The Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is 15 years old this year – still acting a bit like an uncertain, wide-eyed teenager responding to new developments. Although more mature, clarified by regulations, and supplemented by the HITECH Act, at its core HIPAA has remained relatively unchanged since its enactment. Societal changes [...]
Archive for the ‘HIPAA’ Category
Worried About Employees Snooping for Patient Information? Worry More.
July 29th, 2011
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Contributed by M. Scott Koller as part of the Privacy Matters series. Hospitals are facing increased scrutiny over the privacy of patient medical records. An investigation by HHS’s Office of Civil Rights concluded that a Southern California hospital failed to reasonably restrict access to patient information to only those employees with a valid reason to view the [...]
New Regulations Require Disclosure of Data Breaches
August 26th, 2009
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HIPAA-covered entities need to be aware of new regulations issued this week that require public disclosure of data breaches. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued new regulations that require providers, health plans, and other HIPAA-covered entities to notify individuals when their health information is breached. Data breaches involving protected health information [...]
