Following Prince’s sudden death on April 21, 2016, media speculation about the causes surrounding the event have already begun to circulate widely. TMZ has reported that the artist was treated for a drug overdose just six days prior to his death. His private jet was reported to have made an emergency landing in Moline,… Read More »
St. Joseph Health System (SJHS) has reached a settlement in a class action lawsuit for a 2012 health care data breach. SJHS will split a total settlement of $7.5 million, paying class members $242 each. In addition to the $7.5 million settlement, $3 million has been set aside for patients who suffered from identity theft.… Read More »
Since HIPAA was first enacted in 1996, health care organizations have been required to provide periodic training to their employees to ensure that they understand what’s required of them under the law. As we know, employee training can be time consuming, expensive, and it can have a negative impact on productivity. Today, technology gives us… Read More »
On February 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced it had reached a settlement with Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy, Inc. (CPT) after the organization exposed the protected health information (PHI) of a number of its patients. CPT, a California-based physical therapy practice,… Read More »
Nowadays, more people than ever are using and benefitting from modern technology. However, until recently, data storage posed a real problem for those using technology – as did keeping information stored digitally safe. The cloud allows storage of data on a server outside your computer instead of, or in addition to, the data being on… Read More »
Recently, the former CFO of the Shelby Regional Medical Center, Joe White, has been sentenced to 23 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.5 million in restitution. White oversaw the hospital’s implementation of electronic health records (EHR) and was responsible for Meaningful Use attestation to obtain incentive payments. He pleaded guilty to making… Read More »
HIPAA like relationships is confusing at best. Many have wondered, “How can I possibly understand all the fine nuances of HIPAA compliance?” Suggesting the law is as clear as mud would be a gross understatement. If you haven’t already spent time trying to understand HIPAA and its role in your practice, it may be time… Read More »
By Eric Cowperthwaite, vice president of advanced security and strategy at Core Security Considering you could easily spend days poring through the details of HIPAA, it’s surprising how little direct instruction it actually offers. If you want to cut through the fluff, you can pretty much boil HIPAA requirements down to the following: you must… Read More »
As reported by Health and Human Services (HHS) HIPAA fines and audits are significantly on the rise. 5% of practices are being audited against the HITECH Act and Omnibus Rule. Are you compliant? “How do all these regulations affect me as a Healthcare Covered Entity or Business Associate?” To answer that question, let’s first look… Read More »