Archive for the ‘CE’ Category

When is PHI Not PHI?

Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

The deadline for complying with the Omnibus Rule is quickly approaching. Psst…it’s September 23 for most covered entities (CEs) and business associates (BAs).  I’ve been tardy in getting blog posts made because I’ve been happy to have the opportunity to help my hundreds of Compliance Helper and Privacy Professor clients to get into compliance with all the HIPAA and HITECH rules, many just getting there for the first time, in addition to the Omnibus Rule changes and new requirements. I’ve been getting a lot of HIPAA questions from many of the CEs and BAs. I thought it would be helpful to provide some of them on my blog. I’ll start with an interesting question about (more…)

You Don’t Attain Your Clients’ Compliance

Friday, July 12th, 2013

Someone recently commented that I write a lot of blog posts based on my work and what my clients, students and others I meet at conferences and training classes have said or done. Well, that’s because such interactions often create some very good teaching moments that many others could benefit from!  And so, yes, now I have another such experience to share.  One of my new Compliance Helper clients recently told me, “I still don’t know what I need to do for HIPAA/HITECH compliance that is not covered under the compliance activities of my business clients.  How can I do anything more beyond what they are already doing?” (more…)

How Long is the Liability Tail?

Wednesday, March 27th, 2013

Don’t tell me it depends! Well, sorry, but…
I’ve been involved in several interesting discussions (some with lawyers, some with security folks, some with privacy folks, and a few of the folks wearing all three hats) about the liability of organizations that outsource business processing. Since January 17 I’ve also been working on a wide range of documentation changes to reflect the recently released 563 page tome that is the Final HIPAA Omnibus Rule. A significant part of the documentation and writing involves discussion of the increased liability a covered entity (CE) now has for the bad practices and mistakes made by their business associates (BAs).

Organizations want a clear cut answer to “how liable” they are for the actions of their outsourced entities. One CISO at a conference demanded, “Just tell me; are we going to be held responsible for the actions of our business associates or not? Just (more…)

How Physical Harm Impacts Can Drive Huge HIPAA Penalties

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

Are you a covered entity (CE) or business associate (BA) as defined by HIPAA? There are literally millions of organizations in the U.S. that fall under these definitions, and possibly additional millions of BAs outside of the U.S. providing services to U.S.-based CEs. The impact is significant, and truly world-wide. If you are a CE or BA, did you know that your information security and privacy activities, or lack thereof, could cause physical harm to patients and insureds, and that you can receive significant penalties under the new HIPAA rules based upon those impacts? (more…)

Should You Rush to Execute a BA Agreement Today? Probably Not

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

The final HIPAA “mega rule” is going to be officially published on the Federal Register tomorrow, January 25, 2013.  Currently the version available (https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2013-01073.pdf) is “pre-publication” version.

Over the past week I’ve had numerous CEs and BAs contacting me, frantic to change their BA Agreements to “avoid complying with the Mega Rule for another year!” Wait, folks. You are misunderstanding; this is a very specific extension that only applies to the BA Agreements.  Let me explain… (more…)

You Need to Actually Do What Your Policies Say!

Friday, December 21st, 2012

This week I spoke with a small (~25 employees) organization (a business associate providing services to healthcare providers) that contacted me looking for help; they had purchased a whiz-bang “HIPAA compliance GRC” solution that included with everything else information security policies, but they couldn’t make any sense of the policies they were given or how they related to the rest of the expensive GRC tool.  Grrr!! There are (more…)

Back to the Future Security Basics: Security through Obscurity Still Does Not Work

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

Last week I provided Howard Anderson at HealthInfosecurity.com with some of my thoughts about the recent Utah Department of Health breach of the files of 900,000 individuals, and counting. He included some of my thoughts in his blog post, along with thoughts from others. I wanted to provide my full reply here, along with some expanded thoughts.

As background, for those of you who may not have heard of this hack yet, in a nutshell: (more…)

Is A W-2 PHI?

Monday, February 27th, 2012

“Is a W-2 form protected health information?” is a simple question with a complex answer that begins (I know, to the nail-biting chagrin of many), “It depends…”

First the full question: (more…)

Do Subpoenas Trump HIPAA and/or Trample Security Of PHI?

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

On October 10, 2011, there was a report in the Baltimore Sun, “Law firm loses hard drive with patient records: Attorneys represent St. Joseph cardiologist sued for malpractice.” I posted about the report to one of the LinkedIn groups I participate in, pointing out that this is yet one more example of (more…)

Another HIPAA Proposed Rule: Patients’ Access to Test Reports

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Yesterday the HHS proposed rules that would give patients (and their authorized representatives) direct access to their own laboratory test result reports… (more…)