The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the latest agency to slam HHS’ oversight of HIPAA in a report released September 26. The report was scathing in its criticism of HHS’ efforts to educate covered entities and business associate, develop and uphold technical security guidelines, and enforce compliance.
WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina, was ordered by a federal bankruptcy court to notify thousands of patients of a breach of protected health information (PHI). The court also ordered WakeMed to pay a $70,000 fine and offer affected individuals one year of free credit monitoring.
HHS announced more than $87 million in funding for health centers in all U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Pacific territories on September 15.
A Burien, Washington, hospital is notifying more than 18,000 patients of a data breach after a vendor accidentally left files accessible on the internet.
With the first data reporting period beginning January 1, 2017, for CMS’ revamped Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, the agency has released a user guide and template to aid providers who are required to submit the data.
The Office of the National Coordinator of Health IT (ONC) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released an updated security risk analysis tool September 6. The tool is designed to help small and medium-sized covered entities (CE) and business associates (BA) complete security risk analyses.
The New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) is notifying more than 20,000 research participants that their protected health information (PHI) may have been breached in a hacking incident earlier this year.
CMS wants your thoughts on its 2017 OPPS proposed changes. In various places in the proposed rule, CMS specifically asks providers to comment on the proposals. You may submit comments to the agency until September 6, 2016.
