Author Archives: Blog HIPAA

CentraState Medical Center Facing Class Action Lawsuit Over December 2022 Ransomware Attack

A lawsuit has been filed against Freehold Township, NJ-based CentraState Healthcare System over its December 2022 ransomware attack, a few days after the health system started sending notification letters to around 617,000 affected patients. The lawsuit alleges CentraState Medical Center was negligent for failing to implement adequate and reasonable safeguards to protect the sensitive data… Read More »

Biden Administration Considers HIPAA Update to Better Protect Reproductive Health Information

The Biden Administration is considering new rulemaking to update HIPAA to better protect reproductive health information, following the Supreme Court Decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which removed the federal right to abortion and left it to individual states to decide on the legality of abortions for state residents. Currently, at least 24… Read More »

Hacking and Data Theft Incident Reported by CentraState Healthcare System

Freehold Township, NJ-based CentraState Healthcare System has recently confirmed that its network was compromised by unauthorized individuals in December 2022. Unusual activity was detected within its computer systems on December 29, and immediate action was taken to isolate the network and block unauthorized access. CentraState has been working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and independent… Read More »

SendQuick Confirmed as HIPAA Compliant

Compliancy Group has confirmed that the secure mobile messaging solution provider, SendQuick, has demonstrated compliance with the federally mandated standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and has been awarded the HIPAA Seal of Compliance. SendQuick’s mobile messaging solutions, which include IT alerts & notifications, secure remote access via multi-factor authentication, business… Read More »

Lack of Funding Hampering OCR’s Ability to Enforce HIPAA

The HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has published a report it sent to Congress that details its HIPAA enforcement activities in 2021, which provides insights into the state of compliance with the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. The report makes it clear that OCR’s resources are under considerable strain, and without an… Read More »

State AGs Fine DNA Testing Lab $400,000 for Data Breach

DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), one of the largest private DNA testing laboratories in the United States, has been fined a total of $400,000 by state attorneys general in Pennsylvania and Ohio for violations of state laws that contributed to a breach of the personal information of almost 46,000 Pennsylvania and Ohio residents, and approximately 2.1… Read More »

Interview: Stacey A. Tovino, JD, PhD, William J. Alley Professor of Law, University of Oklahoma College of Law

HIPAA Journal is conducting interviews with healthcare professionals, compliance professionals, and industry service providers to find out more about how their experiences with HIPAA, their successes, and the challenges they have and continue to face with HIPAA compliance. This week, Stacey A. Tovino, JD, Ph.D., William J. Alley Professor of Law and Director of Graduate Healthcare… Read More »