The demand for "data breach" insurance appears to be growing based on our experiences, as well as commentary such as a recent article by Pamela Lewis Dolan of American Medical News.
As we’ve reported, data breach coverage is something quite different than traditional "cyber-risk" coverage which tends to address "hazards such as unauthorized Web site access, online…
CDPH’s data privacy enforcement activity continues, this time affecting 6 hospitals and a nursing home with total penalties approaching $800,000.
Continue Reading California Department of Public Health Continues to Fine Hospitals and Nursing Homes for Data Breaches
What had been the first use of the enforcement authority under the HIPAA privacy regulations granted to a State Attorney General, has ended in a settlement agreement between Connecticut’s Insurance Department and Health Net of Connecticut. Under the agreement, Health Net will pay $375,000 in penalties, and it agreed to provide credit monitoring protection for 2 years to all affected persons in Connecticut…
“Washington Post” Voxiva “mobile phone”…
Continue Reading Doctors’ Orders Through Your Cell Phone?
In March 2010, we reported on a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that allowed an employee’s retaliation claim to proceed to trial under the New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act (“CEPA”) on the ground that he was engaged in protected whistle blowing activity – voicing concerns regarding his employer’s …
A UK law firm may find itself subject to significant penalties following reports of a data breach affecting thousands of people. The recent 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco devoted two sessions to the topic, specifically dealing with “cloud computing,” and the risks and ethical issues it raises for law firms. As data privacy and security risks…
Rite Aid Corporation and its affiliates have agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today. At the same time, Rite Aid signed a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)…
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced final rules for eligible health care professionals and hospitals to qualify for a portion of the $27 billion or so in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for implementation and meaningful use of certified electronic health records (EHR). Many are concerned these incentives will…
Further to our discussions of the proposed regulations to implement statutory amendments under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”), we summarize here a proposed changed to the definition of “business associate.” A significant part of the “HIPAA community” (covered entities, business associates and their agents and subcontractors) already…
We recently reported here that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is issuing proposed regulations to implement statutory amendments under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”). These proposed regulations contain a number of important points to think about for HIPAA covered entities (and business associates…
