On September 30, 2014, the Governor of California signed Assembly Bill 1710, which made three small but important changes to the state’s privacy laws. The bill: (1) amended California’s breach notification law to require that the notifying entities offer identity theft protection services to affected individuals in certain cases; (2) required California businesses that “maintain” […]
Laboratories Must Comply with New HIPAA Patient Access Rules by October 6, 2014
HIPAA covered laboratories and hospitals with laboratories subject to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (“CLIA”) must comply with changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule that provide patients with direct access to laboratory test results by October 6, 2014. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the HHS Office for Civil […]
HIPAA Audit Program Phase 2: Delayed
A representative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has recently revealed that OCR has delayed the start of phase 2 of its HIPAA Audit Program – and has revised its plans for phase 2. Previous Plans for Phase 2 Earlier this year, OCR had announced that phase […]
FTC Announces Final Agenda for September Big Data Workshop
The Federal Trade Commission has released a final program for its September workshop, “Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?” During the workshop, speakers with a wide range of experience and expertise in the privacy field will present on the various issues and opportunities that arise from the relationship between big data and consumers. […]
HHS OIG Releases Report Regarding ONC’s Oversight of Testing and Certification of Electronic Health Records
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report regarding the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) oversight of electronic health record (EHR) testing and certification, “The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s Oversight of the Testing and Certification of Electronic Health Records.” ONC was statutorily […]