Are Medical Marijuana Businesses Subject to HIPAA?

With medical marijuana legal in an ever-growing number of states, many businesses in the cannabis industry, particularly dispensaries, continue to wrestle with the question of whether they are subject to the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rule requirements. The bad news is that the answer is, it depends. The …

Understanding the HIPAA Security Rule and Tailoring Policies to Fit Your Business

Purpose and Practicality The HIPAA Security Rule[1] was designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of a patient’s protected health information (PHI) while allowing flexibility for each covered entity based on their size, complexity, technological capabilities, cost constraints, and the likelihood of potential risks to the electronic PHI (ePHI) they house. To make the …

HIPAA, the Opioid Crisis and the Role of Part 2

Updated as of December 2018 With the ever-growing opioid crisis and the President’s call to action to address that crisis particularly through the signing of the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act or the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, P.L. 115-271 in October, 2018 , primary …

How Employers Can Handle Their Biggest Threat to Data Privacy, Their Employees

Given the ever-expanding landscape of privacy laws and regulations, employers are becoming increasingly aware that they are responsible for data breaches caused by their employees. When looking to formally put obligations upon employees to modify employee conduct, employers tend to start with policy, such as in an employee handbook to allow a means of internal …

May Highlights: National Healthcare Law News

-Earlier this month, on May 7, 2018, the Senate passed bipartisan S.B. 1732, entitled the “Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act.”  The bill, which is currently in the House of Representatives, aims to provide “incentive payments to behavioral health providers for the adoption and use of certified electronic health record technology…to improve the …