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May 2012

Recent Stories of Interest

Pervasive HIPAA Failings Net Surgeons the First OCR Sanctions Against Physicians

From Report on Patient Privacy - From the look of things, the small cardiac surgery practice in Phoenix completely ignored most of the privacy requirements from the day they went into effect in 2003, and later did the same when the security rule came online two years later, until one winter’s day in 2009 when the Office for Civil Rights came knocking. What first got OCR’s attention was a complaint alleging that Phoenix Cardiac Surgery was posting office and surgical appointments online, including patient names. Read more

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KPMG Official Describes Early Audit Results, What to Expect If You’re Selected

In his first public comments since his consulting firm officially “exited the… Read more

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OCR Drops Hints That Harm Standard Remains in Final Breach Regs, Now at OMB

In the words of the government’s top health care privacy official, “back… Read more

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‘Monetary Enforcement’ Is the New Aim Of OCR, Following $1.5M BCBST Settlement

The $1.5 million settlement that the Office for Civil Rights recently reached… Read more

From the Editor

Welcome to your Report on Patient Privacy subscriber-only Web page

Be sure to visit often, for PDFs of issues, article archives, narrative sections by privacy and security experts, and more!

Please e-mail me with your comments on the last issue of Report on Patient Privacy, story ideas for future issues, or any other suggestions you have that can make the newsletter more useful for you.

May 15, 2012
ONC Releases New Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information for EHRs

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) released the first edition of its “Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information.” The guide explains not only the importance of privacy and security measures for electronic health records but also what the meaningful use regulations require. It also emphasizes HIPAA compliance and discusses the interaction of HIPAA and meaningful use.

April 19, 2012
Phoenix Practice to Pay $100,000 for HIPAA Violations

OCR has hit another covered entity for failure to protect the PHI of its patients. Phoenix Cardiac Surgery, P.C., of Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona, has agreed to pay HHS $100,000 and take corrective action to come into compliance with HIPAA. The problems came to light when a complaint was filed because the practice was posting clinical and surgical appointments on a Web-based, publicly available calendar. During its investigation, OCR also found that the practice never appointed a security officer, had very few policies and procedures, had no record of staff training, and had no business associate agreements with the service posting the appointments. Click here for the press release and access to the settlement documents.

March 30, 2012
Final Rule on HITECH HIPAA Amendments Awaits OMB Approval

The long-awaited final rule implementing the HITECH Act modifications to HIPAA’s privacy, security, and enforcement provisions, as well as revisions to the breach notification requirements, is in its final stages. The Office for Civil Rights sent the rule to OMB for approval on March 24. While OMB has no set deadline for approval, release is expected soon.

Watch this site for news of approval and availability of the rule.

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Conducting Internal Investigations in Health Care Organizations
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