On May 18, 2023, the day after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced only its second enforcement action under the Health Breach Notification Rule (HBNR) in 13 years, it released proposed changes to “strengthen and modernize” the rule. Those proposed changes will substantially expand the scope of the HBNR. Congress, however, never intended that the […]
It’s been a week filled with last-minute government pivots to avoid interruptions of care. Literally less than 12 hours before the end of the public health emergency (PHE), Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (CT DSS) released revisions to its telehealth guidance for Medicaid recipients. Earlier this week, the Drug Enforcement Agency also issued a last-minute […]
You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief from healthcare providers around the country on May 9, 2023. Two days before the end of the public health emergency (PHE), the Drug Enforcement Agency issued a Temporary Rule that extends current flexibilities for telehealth prescribing of controlled substances for another six months. The Temporary Rule […]
Earlier this year, we learned that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) would propose changes to HIPAA to protect reproductive health information in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Since learning about the impending proposal, many of us speculated on OCR’s […]
On March 27, 2023, Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (CT DSS) published post-pandemic guidance regarding the delivery of telehealth services. Important subjects in the guidance include written consent, provider location, documentation requirements and the re-introduction of the established patient requirement for some services. This guidance is effective on May 12, 2023, the day after the […]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government extended much-needed flexibilities surrounding telehealth to facilitate access to care. Many of these flexibilities were lifesaving. This included allowing the prescription of controlled substances via telehealth to treat substance use disorders and psychiatric conditions. Background Prior to the pandemic, in most instances, a patient required at least one in-person […]
Written in collaboration with Melissa Chaplik, JD Candidate 2024 The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is ending on May 11, 2023, and so are HIPAA compliance flexibilities for telehealth. Here’s to hoping that the first two episodes of Telehealth, Privacy and The Three Little Pigs inspired action. In the first episode, I warned: Telehealth is […]
Written in collaboration with Melissa Chaplik, JD Candidate 2024 Dentists take note: HIPAA most likely applies to your practice (and it has for the last 20 years).[i] Doing things like blasting a patient in response to a negative review on-line, using patient data for a political campaign, and ignoring correspondence from regulators is bad (i.e., […]
On December 15, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced its 17th HIPAA Right of Access settlement of the year. Overall, OCR has settled or assessed a penalty in a Right of Access enforcement matter 42 times since it began its Right of Access enforcement initiative in 2019. […]
No one likes receiving negative reviews on Yelp. But healthcare providers need to exercise better restraint than a dentist who will pay $23,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to settle claims that his responsive posts violated HIPAA. OCR received a complaint that New Vision Dental (NVD) continuously […]