Final Rules on Interoperability and Information Blocking Released

Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) released their long-awaited final rules on interoperability and information blocking.

First HIPAA Enforcement Action of 2020: Provider Size Does Not Matter but the Content of Its Breach Report Does

Lessons from the first enforcement action of 2020: (1) No covered entity is immune from HIPAA enforcement. (2) Craft factual breach reports that leave no unanswered questions and do not unnecessarily grab OCR’s attention.

Variations on Ransomware Tormenting Law Firms and Women

A relatively new kind of ransomware is targeting law firms and publicly shaming them into paying the ransom or risk having the firm’s data dumped on the internet. In other ransomware news, instead of money, some hackers are demanding photos of women’s body parts.

CA AG’s Office Releases Modified Proposed CCPA Regulations

The proposed modifications provide much-needed clarity to covered businesses in advance of the enforcement deadline and show that the AG seriously considered the comments and feedback it received. This post offers a very brief summary of some of the notable changes.

Court Finds that Reasonable, Cost-Based Fee Does Not Apply to Directives to Send Records to Third Parties

Just over a week ago, a federal district court invalidated part of HHS’s 2016 guidance on the fees a covered entity can charge for patient records. The court found that HHS exceeded its authority when it declared that only a limited fee could be charged for records sent to a third party at a patient’s direction.

HIPAA Compliance Lessons From 2019 Enforcement Trends

It appears that the 2019 HIPAA enforcement year is over with a lot less fanfare (and cash) than last year but it did provide important insights into enforcement trends. *Distributed by Law360 on January 22, 2020 and included in its Health Law and Cybersecurity and Privacy Law. newsletters.

Privacy Legislation Season is Underway!

Just two weeks into the new year and at least three states already have proposed privacy legislation boasting CCPA and GDPR-like provisions. This flurry of early legislative activity is just a preview of what we are likely to see during state legislative sessions throughout the year.