In 2016, the Australian government released medical billing records of 2.9 million people. They tried to protect patient privacy by removing names and other identifying data. But it didn't work. … [Read more...]
COMPLIANCE CORNER
HIPAA Compliance: The Pitfalls of PHI De-Identification & How to Avoid Them
November 26, 2018
HIPAA
Aetna Settles with States of Victims of HIV Meds Envelope Privacy Snafu
November 2, 2018
Case: Aetna is still paying for a disastrous miscalculation that may have revealed the HIV status of 12,000 beneficiaries that occurred in July 2017 when it mailed them information about their HIV … [Read more...]
CYBERSECURITY
HIPAA Briefing: Can Patients Sue Labs for Privacy Breaches?
July 31, 2018
Violating HIPAA restrictions subjects your lab to fines and other penalties dished out by the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and other regulators. But can the individual victims whose personal … [Read more...]
HIPAA
Traps to Avoid: Aetna, HIPAA and the $17+ Million Envelope Mishap
March 12, 2018
When mailing sensitive personal medical information to patients, it is probably best to avoid transparent window envelopes. One of America's biggest health insurance companies just learned this lesson … [Read more...]
CASE OF THE MONTH
The eClinicalWorks EHR Settlement—Big Fines & Unprecedented CIA Obligations
June 29, 2017
With all the money it generates, it was only a matter of time before Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology got caught up in the False Claims Act dragnet. (See the related story on EHR … [Read more...]
HIPAA
Compliance Perspective: How to Comply with New OSHA Electronic Injury Recordkeeping & Reporting Rules
May 15, 2017
Does your lab facility have 250 or more employees? Has your employee count reached 250 or more at any time during the 2016 calendar year? Is your lab part of a hospital that has … [Read more...]
HIPAA
TOOL: Model HIPAA Breach Notification Letter to Patient
March 14, 2017
Data security breaches involving patient records can occur despite your best efforts to prevent them. If prevention fails, your lab needs to switch to incident response mode and take measures to … [Read more...]
HIPAA
10 Things to Include in Your HIPAA Breach Notification Policy
January 30, 2017
Earlier this month we told you about a $475,000 settlement one provider reached in a HIPAA breach notification case. Privacy lapses can occur despite your best efforts to prevent them. If prevention … [Read more...]
NEWS
Enforcement Firsts: Presence Health Fined $475,000 for Taking Too Long to Report HIPAA Breach
January 26, 2017
Patient health information breaches—whether from hacking, glitches or just plain old carelessness—remain an all too common occurrence in labs and other health care institutions. A new HIPAA rule took … [Read more...]
HIPAA
How to Create a HIPAA Breach Notification Policy
January 26, 2017
Privacy lapses can occur despite your best efforts to prevent them. If prevention does fail, the imperative switches to incident response and damage control. One of the key response challenges is … [Read more...]
