Legal and practical healthcare information.
Previously published in Healthcare News and Healthcare Michigan Can you remember healthcare security 20+ years ago? It seems like a different world from now. Believe it or not, the HIPAA Security Rule has barely changed since it was first enacted in 2003[1]and has been long overdue for a significant remodel. Read on for highlights of the proposed new …
Continue reading “‘Security! Security!’ HHS Proposes Updates To HIPAA’s Security Rule”
It is no secret that protected health information (or “PHI”) is more and more at risk for cybersecurity attacks. In 2022 (the most recent year this statistic is available), the Department for Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) received over 30,000 new complaints alleging violations of HIPAA and, in addition to other …
Continue reading “How Did They Get My Protected Health Information?”
Originally published in Healthcare Michigan, Volume 40, No. 6 Introduction As the intersection of technology and healthcare becomes increasingly nuanced, the field of genomic medicine is rapidly evolving and expanding. Genomic medicine, or personalized medicine focusing on the data holding information on base sequence in an individual’s genome, uses an individual’s genetic information to guide healthcare …
Continue reading “Ensuring Data Privacy in Genomic Medicine: Legal Challenges and Opportunities”
Originally published in Michigan Healthcare Volume 39, No. 12 On December 2, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modify portions of Part 2 of Title 42 of the Code of …
Continue reading “HHS Proposes Rule on Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records”
The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently announced guidelines for the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) to audio-only telehealth encounters following the end of the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (“PHE”). As reported here at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the HHS Office …
Continue reading “Post-Pandemic HIPAA Guidelines for Audio-Only Telehealth”
Oftentimes, healthcare entities’ employees are also patients of the healthcare entity, creating a dual role as employer and employee as well as doctor and patient. But what can an employer do when they need to access an employee’s medical records? Are these medical records treated differently than non-employee patients? Throughout the last few years, we …
As employees return to the workplace, an increasing number of employers are asking their workers to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccinations. This has led to many questions and concerns about whether such a practice is permitted under various healthcare privacy laws, particularly the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). At first glance, the …
Many practitioners in Nevada had been operating under the assumption that the Nevada Supreme Court’s 2016 opinion in Golden Road Motor Inn, Inc. v. Islam, 132 Nev. 476, 376 P.3d 151 (2016) automatically rendered void and unsalvageable any non-competition agreement entered into prior to the enactment of NRS 613.195(5)[1] in June 2017 that contained a …
On the surface, it seems like an obvious choice – follow the law and avoid the risk of a hefty fine – but health care providers may learn the hard way that implementing HIPAA Security Rule requirements is, in fact, more complicated than it might first seem. According to a recent U.S. Department of Health …
When healthcare providers are subject to a bad review on Yelp! or similar customer-review websites and apps, it can be difficult to hold back and not provide a response or at least attempt to clarify the situation. However, healthcare providers, including dental providers, must ensure that employees who handle their social media, including customer-review websites …
Continue reading “Healthcare Provider Fined for Disclosing PHI in Response to a Yelp! Review”