2018 was a year of large settlements and high-volume data breaches. According to OCR’s breach report portal, among the more than 250 reported data breaches under investigation, 14 incidents exposed the PHI of more than 100,000 individuals each.
Q: I am an acupuncturist and have a patient who owes me $100. I contacted the patient about the missing payment but received no response. Would it be a HIPAA violation to get in touch with the patient’s emergency contact person about the missing payment? Or should I go to a debt collector?
HHS Office for Civil Rights has issued a request for information seeking input from the public on how the HIPAA Privacy Rule could be modified to meet HHS’s goal of promoting coordinated, value-based care.
The opioid crisis in the U.S. continues to touch on issues of patient rights and privacy. In October, OCR launched an education campaign about civil rights protections that include specific guidelines for covered entities under HIPAA
