The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced a significant settlement with Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (CHCS), a business associate under HIPAA, arising from a breach of protected health information (PHI) after the theft of an employee’s iPhone. The iPhone … Continue Reading
Last week, the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Senate Committee on Finance sent a letter to Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), and Jocelyn Samuels, Director of the Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights … Continue Reading
On January 13, 2015, Jocelyn Samuels, director of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, briefed reporters on the agency’s HIPAA enforcement priorities, noting a focus on threats to electronic health information, or ePHI. Samuels highlighted an increase in infiltration of computer networks reported under the breach … Continue Reading