CyBIR: Cyber and Privacy Breaches – Insurance and Reinsurance Data Privacy Lawyers: Walker Wilcox & Matousek Law Firm

Category Archives: Health Records Privacy

Subscribe to Health Records Privacy RSS Feed

State Attorney General HIPAA Training Now Available to Anyone

Posted in Attorney General Action, Health Records Privacy, Healthcare, HIPPA, HITECH

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made its state attorney general HIPAA enforcement training material available to anyone.  “Although developed for state AGs, the training materials provide a great deal of information about the content and enforcement of the HIPAA Rules that may be of interest to a broader audience,” OCR said on its website.  As a… Continue Reading

Healthcare Organizations still “under the weather” according to Ponemon’s Second Annual Study on Patient Privacy and Data Security

Posted in Cyber Breach, Damages, Data Breach, Federal Legislation, Health Records Privacy, Healthcare, HIPPA, HITECH, physician, Uncategorized

Although Ponemon’s Second Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy and Data Security has shown some improvement for health organizations the overall message is still bleak.  The second annual report examines changes from the past year that may have affected privacy and data protection in healthcare organizations.  It also looks as how well the healthcare organizations are… Continue Reading

“Say Ahhh…Cyber Risks and the Health Care Industry” Webinar Recording Available

Posted in Coverage, Health Records Privacy, Healthcare, HIPPA, Webinar

On November 15, we hosted “Say Ahhh…Cyber Risks and the Health Care Industry,” the second webinar in our Webinar Series on Cyber and Privacy Breaches and their Insurance Impact.  For those of you who could not join us on the 15th, you can access a recording of the webinar, the slides and the post-event Q&A.  Simply… Continue Reading

Say Ahhh…Cyber Risks and the Health Care Industry – Our Webinar Series Continues on November 15

Posted in Coverage, Health Records Privacy, Healthcare, HIPPA, Insurance, Privacy Legislation, Webinar

Join us on November 15, 2011 at 10:00 C.S.T. for “Say Ahhh…Cyber Risks and the Health Care Industry,” the second webinar in our Webinar Series on Cyber and Privacy Breaches and their Insurance Impact Our second webinar on November 15 will focus on Cyber and Privacy Risks and Regulations for the Health Care industry and… Continue Reading

HHS Issues its First Annual Report to Congress on HIPAA Compliance

Posted in Health Records Privacy, Healthcare, HIPPA, physician, Privacy, Privacy Legislation

As required by the HITECH Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in August issued its first annual report to Congress regarding compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The HIPAA Privacy Rule established national standards to protect medical records and personal health information (“PHI”), while limiting the use and disclosure of such… Continue Reading

HHS receives 433 comments regarding proposed “HIPAA Privacy Rule Accounting of Disclosures under HITECH”

Posted in Health Records Privacy, HIPPA, physician, Privacy Legislation

On May 31, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted the “HIPAA Privacy Rule Accounting of Disclosures under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act” for comments.  Needless to say it is a hot topic, with 433 comments within the August 1 deadline. The proposed disclosure rule modifies the HIPAA’s… Continue Reading

Pharmaceutical Data Mining Law Struck Down

Posted in Health Records Privacy, HIPPA

Most patients are unaware that when they fill a prescription at a pharmacy, the pharmacy sells identifying information about the prescribing doctor to “data miners.”  Data miners are firms that analyze the information and produce reports on the prescriber’s behavior: is the doctor quick to prescribe new drugs on the market? does the doctor substitute drugs… Continue Reading

Privacy of Pharmaceutical Records Challenged

Posted in Breach Notification Laws, Cloud Computing, Coverage, Cyber Breach, Health Records Privacy, HIPPA, Insurance, Privacy, Privacy Legislation, Reinsurance

When a pharmacy fills a prescription, it records the drug, dosage, prescribing physician, age and gender of the patient.  The pharmacy sells this information to “data miners” who compile reports about the physician’s prescription habits.  The data miners then sell their research to pharmaceutical companies, who use the data for target marketing to doctors most likely to… Continue Reading