Posts Tagged ‘Protected health information’
Are You Complying with Information Blocking Rules?
Healthcare providers who fail to give patients access to their electronic health records without charge and without delay may be running afoul of a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act. These so-called “information blocking rules†went into effect April 5, 2021. The Cures Act was signed into law in December 2016 and is designed…
Read MoreHospital Fails to Terminate Former Employee’s Access to HIPAA-Protected Data
A recent HIPAA enforcement action should serve as a reminder to healthcare organizations of the need to terminate an employee’s access to patients’ electronic protected health information (ePHI) immediately after that employee leaves the organization. The most recent action – the third within a month – involved Pagosa Springs Medical Center in Colorado. The critical…
Read MoreAllergy Center’s HIPAA Fine Nothing to Sneeze at
A Connecticut healthcare provider recently learned it’s better not to comment in public about a patient, even if that patient has disclosed his or her own protected health information (PHI) to others. The incident involved Allergy Associates of Hartford, a provider specializing in the treatment of patients with allergies. The patient called a local television…
Read MoreDumpster Diver Demonstrates Importance of Proper Medical Record Storage and Disposal
Just because a business closes its doors, it doesn’t mean that it no longer is obligated to safeguard patients’ protected health information (PHI), as one company recently learned. Earlier this month, the receiver appointed to liquidate the assets of Filefax, Inc. agreed to pay $100,000 out of the receivership estate to settle potential HIPAA violations.…
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