Author name: snapinhipaa

June 17, 2018 The Division of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights has released new guidance for HIPAA-covered units to simplify HIPAA approvals for uses of PHI for research purposes, as needed by the 21st Century Cures Law of 2016. Disclosure and Uses of PHI for Research The HIPAA Secrecy Rule does permit …

OCR Issues Guidance on Separate Approval of Uses and Disclosures of PHI for Research Read More »

June 21, 2018 April was a specifically bad month for healthcare data breaks with 41 reported incidents. Although it is certainly good news that there has been a month-over-month reduction in healthcare data breaks, the harshness of some of the breaks reported last month puts May on a par with April. There were 29 healthcare …

May 2018 Healthcare Data Break Report Read More »

July 5, 2018 Healthcare companies have been reminded of HIPAA patch administration necessities to ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of ePHI is protected. Patch Management: A Big Task for Healthcare Companies Computer software often has mistakes in the code that might possibly be abused by malevolent actors to gain access to computers and healthcare …

OCR Draws Consideration to HIPAA Patch Administration Requirements Read More »

August 15, 2018 The Oklahoma Division of Veteran Matters has been blamed of breaking Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Laws by three Democrat legislators, who have also called for two top Oklahoma VA officers to be dismissed over the occurrence. The suspected HIPAA breach happened during a planned internet outage, during which VA …

Legislators Blame Oklahoma Division of Veteran Matters of Breaking HIPAA Laws Read More »

August 29, 2018 After the unintentional drowning of their adopted son, Denise and Wayne Russell were communicated by the child’s birth mother who made threats against their family. The phone call from the birth mother came immediately after their son was admitted to McAlester Regional Health Complex after a catastrophic swimming pool calamity. Their 2-year …

Couple Indicts McAlester Hospital Over Suspected Prying and Impermissible Revelation Read More »

February 24, 2018 Nearly 1,900 patients of the University of Virginia Health System are being informed that an illegal person has gained access to their medical files as a consequence of a malware infection. The malware had been loaded onto the appliances used by a doctor at UVA Medical Center. When medical files were retrieved …

1,900 UVA Patients’ PHI Retrieved by Hacker Behind FruitFly Malware Read More »

April 29, 2018 A strange error by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission has seen a former worker sent the PHI of roughly 100 patients after she had been dismissed. She was sent boxes having items that had been gathered from her old desk but was also sent a box of benefits application forms. …

Worker Transmitted PHI After Being Sacked Read More »

May 18, 2018 In the latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Burlington, MA-based Nuance Communications revealed it suffered a data break involving the PHI of 45,000 people in December 2017. Nuance Communications detailed in its May 10, 2018 SEC filing that a third party retrieved some reports hosted on a single Nuance …

Ex-Worker of Nuance Communications Thieved PHI of 45,000 Patients Read More »

June 20, 2018 An ex-worker of the Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, CA who thieved the protected health information (PHI) of over 1,000 patients has been penalized to three years in prison. Albert Torres, 51, was hired as a clerk in the Long Beach Health System-run hospital – a position he occupied for …

3-Year Jail Term for VA Worker Who Thieved Patient Data Read More »

July 26, 2018 The phishing attacks on healthcare companies carry on… The previous few days have seen two more healthcare companies declare that electronic mail accounts were breached when workers replied to phishing electronic mails. Electronic mail Account Undermined at Boys Town National Research Hospital Boys Town National Research Hospital (Boys Town), an Omaha, NE …

Boys Town National Research Hospital and NorthStar Anesthesia Found PHI Undermined in Phishing Attacks Read More »