Two cases of exposing patient personal information occurred in New Jersey but serve as warnings to all healthcare providers. The state's Division of Consumer Affairs has reached a settlement with three New Jersey-based providers of cancer care that the State alleges failed to adequately safeguard patient data, exposing the personal and protected health information of 105,200 … [Read more...] about New safeguards and fines follow data breach investigations in New Jersey
HIPAA
5 more HIPAA patient rights violations: strategies for avoiding fines
By Danika Brinda In September of 2019, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services settled the first HIPAA Fine and Corrective Action Plan for $85,000. Fast forward a little over 2 years to late last year the OCR assigned five more fines and corrective actions plans for non-compliance with Patient Access, now totaling 25 covered … [Read more...] about 5 more HIPAA patient rights violations: strategies for avoiding fines
5 things to do before a HIPPA audit happens to your medical office
By Jordan MacAvoy The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced to safeguard sensitive patient data. As expected, a good number of covered entities and business associates are yet to implement the safeguards fully. Most of these healthcare providers, business associates, and organizations that are struggling to implement the compliance … [Read more...] about 5 things to do before a HIPPA audit happens to your medical office
Failure to prevent ransomware attacks exposes healthcare providers to costly negligence lawsuits
Custodians of personal health information have become a prime target for ransomware attacks. In addition to fines for HIPAA violations, failure to safeguard patient medical information against these threats can lead to liability under state negligence and gross negligence laws, including within the framework of potentially disastrous class action lawsuits. The recent case … [Read more...] about Failure to prevent ransomware attacks exposes healthcare providers to costly negligence lawsuits
Fraud recoveries grow as feds target telemedicine and COVID-19 add-on test scams
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and continued sequestration of enforcement funds, the federal Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (Program) reversed recent trends and recovered more money in FY 2020 than it had the year before. In fact, recoveries for the year reached nearly $3.1 billion, the highest return since 2016. Here’s a briefing for medical office managers on the … [Read more...] about Fraud recoveries grow as feds target telemedicine and COVID-19 add-on test scams
Healthcare data breaches hit a new high in first half of 2021
While healthcare data breaches have become an all-too-common occurrence, the problem seems to be getting worse. According to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), there have already been 360 federally reported data breaches involving health information in the first half of 2021, the highest total for the first six months of a year since the government began tracking this data … [Read more...] about Healthcare data breaches hit a new high in first half of 2021
New HHS policy makes your office potentially liable for LGBTQ discrimination
While it doesn’t directly relate to billing and reimbursement, federal civil rights laws have an impact on certain aspects of healthcare operations. These laws ban your office from discriminating on the basis of protected personal characteristics, including sex. So, compliance managers need to be aware that on May 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an … [Read more...] about New HHS policy makes your office potentially liable for LGBTQ discrimination
HIPAA compliance checklist
Having a complete HIPAA compliance program is important to your organization. Run through this HIPAA compliance checklist to see if you have your foundation of HIPAA compliance in place and easily retrievable. HIPAA Policies and Procedures HIPAA privacy policies, procedures, and forms HIPAA security policies, procedures, and forms HIPAA Breach Notification policy and … [Read more...] about HIPAA compliance checklist
New OCR data shed light on the costs of privacy noncompliance
HIPAA enforcement isn’t nearly as fat a cash cow as enforcement of False Claims Act (FCA) and other healthcare fraud laws is, it still takes a lot of money out of the pockets of providers and into the hands of the federal government. But tracking the economics of HIPAA enforcement is tough because the government doesn’t publish data on HIPAA recovery amounts the way it does … [Read more...] about New OCR data shed light on the costs of privacy noncompliance
How to keep your email compliant with HIPAA
By Ron Slyker bio If you are a medical office manager, you have more than likely heard the term “HIPAA compliance." Most relate it to the protection of patient health information (PHI) within the office, but HIPAA compliance extends beyond internal communications. Ensuring email is HIPAA compliant is one of the most overlooked components of HIPAA compliance. A common … [Read more...] about How to keep your email compliant with HIPAA