Not Taking the Advice of the OCR Could Prove Costly
On November 27, 2019 the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a press release detailing a settlement agreement with Sentara Hospitals (Sentara) in the amount of $2.175 million. The matter that was the basis for the settlement started somewhat innocently when Sentara accidentally sent a bill to someone that contained the protected health information of […]
Change Your Thinking to Change Your World
A common frustration for many providers is the fact they keep dealing with the same types of HIPAA issues over and over. It seems no matter what type of training staff receive they continue to have conversations in public places, post photos on social media or leave protected health information out where it can be […]
Encryption is Your Best Insurance
On November 5, 2019 the Office of Civil Rights announced a settlement with the University of Rochester Medical Center where URMC agreed to pay $3 Million Dollars to the OCR and take “substantial corrective action” to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It was alleged the actions of URMC […]
The Art of Writing a Good Policy
The world of health care does not suffer from a lack of policies. Most organizations have dozens or even hundreds of policies addressing everything you can imagine. Each time something happens or there is an adverse event, the natural reaction is to develop a new policy so the next time the situation arises the organization […]