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Physician Law Blog

We provide insights and analysis for physicians, nurses, chiropractors, dentists, physical therapists and other health professionals on issues impacting their practices.

Physician Law Blog
April 30, 2015

Happy HIPAA Thursday - Paper Records Count too!

Just ask Cornell Prescription Pharmacy about disposal of unshredded paper pharmacy records containing protected health information (PHI), and you will hear that this pharmacy paid $125,000 plus it has entered a Resolution Agreement with the OCR. Not only is this pharmacy paying a significant penalty, it will be under a corrective action plan to correct deficiencies in their HIPAA compliance program and must submit the members of their workforce to receive training on that program within 30 days of implementing the policies and procedures.

Physician Law Blog
March 9, 2014

Another HIPAA Breach -  Encryption Matters

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights, the division responsible for investigating HIPAA breaches, has said repeatedly encryption is one of the most basic things providers and business associates can implement to protect patient information. "Pay attention to encryption," said Susan McAndrew, deputy director for health information privacy at OCR, speaking at HIMSS14 this past month, particularly for any devices that can leave the office. "We're interested in protecting the data. You may be interested in protecting the property. We want to turn this into property losses as opposed to data losses."