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The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) has agreed to pay $2.75 million to settle multiple alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
By Gwen Cofield Now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun prescreening questionnaires for Phase 2 privacy and security audits, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-covered entities should make sure they’re prepared on the compliance areas HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has indicated it plans to emphasize.
Yesterday we learned that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will be conducting a round of audits for covered entities and their business associates. Today we’ll see how they will be conducting their audits.
As a part of its continued efforts to assess compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has begun a round of audits of covered entities and their business associates.
By Benjamin J. Conley, JD In late October, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a series of informal frequently asked questions (FAQs) addressing various unanswered questions under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) preventive service mandate, the Mental Health Parity, and […]
If domestic partners are unmarried opposite sex but declared as a dependent on IRS tax return, is the cost of the health benefit considered taxable income to the employee? Can domestic partners use a joint HSA account?
By Jennifer Carsen, JD Maybe you, like me, are old enough to remember David Letterman’s unfortunate opening bit at the 1995 Academy Awards—when he inexplicably went back and forth between Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman in the audience, saying “Uma…Oprah…Uma…Oprah…”
We want to draft a policy that allows us to install a monitoring app on employee’s personal phones that can contain private HIPAA data and gives us the option to remotely wipe the phone if stolen. The hurdle is that we do not provide any reimbursement for personal phones. Are we allowed to do this […]
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) imposes requirements to protect and help consumers maintain both their health insurance and their privacy. Some of the main provisions include:
Now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally appears to be moving ahead with its HIPAA audit program, health plans and other covered entities need to be preparing documentation and shoring up their risk analysis and training, among other things, HIPAA experts suggested in recent webinars. “They’ve been talking about it for […]