HIPAA

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Health care practices and businesses generally need to be more careful when responding to requests for medical and other sensitive personal information.
Continue Reading We have to disclose patient records in response to a subpoena/attorney letter, right?

Will NY’s highest court allow patients to sue medical practices for fiduciary duty breaches when their non-physician employees disclose confidential medical records?
Continue Reading New York’s Highest Court To Say Whether Medical Practice Can Be Sued For Wrongful Texts By Non-Physician Employee

As we continue to examine the final HIPAA privacy and security regulations, as amended by the HITECH Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, we pulled together a summary of some of the key points. We fully expect additional sub-regulatory guidance to be provided by OCR, such as frequently asked questions and sample business …

Under the HITECH Act, business associates are subject to the HIPAA privacy and security rules (the "HIPAA Rules") virtually to the same extent as covered entities. In addition to implementing this change for business associates ("BAs"), and providing additional guidance concerning what entities are business associates, the final HIPAA regulations issued last week also treat certain subcontractors of BAs as BAs directly subject to …

Following the mass shootings in Newtown, CT, and Aurora, CO, Office for Civil Rights Director Leon Rodriguez issued a letter on January 15, 2013, reminding covered health care providers about disclosures of protected health information that may be made to avert threats to health and safety.

The letter points out, for example, that mental health…

Approximately 233 pages of confidential patient grievance files are at the center of a legal storm in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.  In the case of Peterson v. HealthEast Woodwinds Hospital, the plaintiff, a former Patient Advocate, alleges she was instructed to improperly destroy medical files. According to her Complaint, this caused Peterson stress that required…