Nationwide Telephone Scam: Phony DEA Agents Extorting Money from Victims
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning the public to be aware of a prescription drug scam. This telephone scheme is extorting money from people all over the country. On November 28, 2012, the DEA released a press […]
Don’t Ring in the New Year with a HIPAA Audit – Safeguard Yourself Now
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law Here’s a scary reminder: There are people attempting to hack into electronic health systems every second of every day. Thankfully, most of these attempts are unsuccessful due to the preventive technologies in place to safeguard such information. However, […]
Cyber Attack at Community Health Systems Affects 4.5 Million Patients-Could This be a New Trend?
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On August 18, 2014, Community Health Systems, a Tennessee-based hospital chain that has 206 hospitals in 29 states, announced that its computer system was hacked. According to a number of news reports, an outside group of hackers, originating […]
HIPAA Fines, Mobile Devices and Risk Assessments: Follow the Steps or Pay the Price
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm Two separate entities have agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) $1,975,220 in fines collectively. The settlements resolve potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security rules involving stolen, unencrypted […]
Data Breach at Colorado Hospital Highlights IT Security Risks
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm A small rural hospital in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, has identified a virus on its computer network that had captured and stored screen shots of protected health information in a hidden file system. The hidden folder was created on Sept. 23, 2013, but was not discovered until […]
Dermatology Practice Settles with Government After Stolen USB Drive Results in HIPAA Breach
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and Adult & Pediatric Dermatology (APDerm), reached a $150,000 settlement for privacy and security violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). […]
Two Laptops Containing Information of 729,000 Patients Stolen from California Hospital Group
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The personal health information of around 729,000 patients has been compromised following the theft of two laptops. The password-protected computers were taken from an administration building of AHMC Healthcare Inc., a hospital group in Alhambra, California. According to […]
Affinity Health Plan Settles with Government in Photocopier HIPAA Breach Incident Involving Patient Medical Information
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR), and Affinity Health Plan, Inc. (Affinity), reached a settlement for more than $1.2 million for potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability […]
Florida Man Sentenced to Prison for Role in Florida Hospital Data Theft
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm A Davenport, Florida, man was sentenced to four years in prison for paying off two Florida Hospital employees to illegally access patient records, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). A judge sentenced Sergie Kusyakov on April 10, 2013. He was charged with conspiracy and wrongful […]
Health Care Professionals Take Note of the New HIPAA Rules
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law, and Lance O. Leider, J.D., The Health Law Firm With the popularity of electronic health records (EHRs), social media and everything in between, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released stronger rules and protections […]
Are You Ready for HIPAA and HITECH Audits?
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a pilot program this month to make sure covered entities are in compliance with HIPAA privacy and security rules and breach notification standards, according to the OCR. The OCR will perform up to 150 audits to assess […]
Ex-Hospital Employee Admits to Stealing and Selling Confidential Patient Information
By Lance O. Leider, J.D., and George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law On October 22, 2012, a former Florida Hospital employee admitted to stealing patient information that was used to target customers for lawyers and chiropractors, according to a number of sources. The man allegedly […]
Sarasota Sheriff Wants Patients to Waive HIPAA Privacy Rights
By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. Law enforcement has been working hard to bust pill mills and stop prescription drug abuse. Pharmacists and pain management doctors are under intense scrutiny by various law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Health (DOH), for their role in giving out controlled substances. “Doctor […]
Patients Like to Read Doctors’ Notes Online
By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. According to the Orlando Sentinel, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows that patients like to read their doctors’ notes. In the study, published in April of 2012, doctors put their notes online, and gave patients online access to the file. While some patients had privacy concerns, […]
Do You Need A HIPAA Risk Assessment?
By Danielle M. Murray, J.D. As a health care provider or owner of a health facility, you know about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. You know that you must safeguard and protect confidential patient medical information to avoid civil and criminal penalties against you and your practice. Did you know […]
Remedies for Violation of HIPAA Privacy Rights and Medical Confidentiality – Part 2
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law I receive many questions and e-mails about possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) Privacy Regulations and Security Regulations, and breaches of confidentiality of medical records and medical information. More detailed information on HIPAA […]
Remedies for Violation of HIPAA Privacy Rights and Medical Confidentiality – Part 1
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law I receive many questions and e-mails about possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) Privacy Regulations and Security Regulations, and breaches of confidentiality of medical records and medical information. I will attempt to explain […]
Preparing for HIPAA Audits
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has recently released the initial results for the first round of HIPAA audits, as well as the HIPAA audit protocol. Covered entities need to review both the audit results and audit protocol […]
OCR Releases Results From First Round of HIPAA Audits
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law The Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) has release information on the initial round of mandated audits of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) covered entities. The OCR announced official details concerning the audits at an OCR and National Institute […]
Alleged HIPAA Privacy Violations at the Center of a Recent Physician Group Settlement with HHS
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law A small physician group has reached a settlement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) over alleged Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) violations. The settlement […]