HIPAA Individuals’ Right to Access to Records. DHHS recently posted a lengthy document providing very detailed guidance on the individual’s right under HIPAA to access their health information (45 CFR §164.524). www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professional/privacy/ guidance /access. The OIG website http://oig.hhs.gov features monthly update podcasts. The January 2016 podcast discussed recent enforcement actions […]
Health Law Alert
HIPAA Update: A New Permitted Disclosure for Certain Health Care Providers
On January 6, 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a Final Rule modifying the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The new Rule expressly permits the disclosure of PHI to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for certain covered entities. The Rule aims to strengthen the accuracy of […]
Five Big Things That Have Changed Since You Adopted Your Compliance Program
Vintage clothes, vintage wine and vintage cars are all great, but not vintage compliance policies. So what has changed that makes it vital for compliance policies and activities to be updated now? Updates to Compliance Guidance. The original compliance program guidance document was published in 1998 for hospitals, followed closely […]
Overview of the 2016 OIG Work Plan
In November, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its fiscal year 2016 Work Plan giving the industry insight as to the new and ongoing priorities of the OIG. The Work Plan summarizes the prior year’s results, which reflect the OIG’s progression toward an increasing focus on civil actions between […]
TCPA Compliance – What’s That?
When is the last time your organization reviewed its Telephone Communications Protection Act (TCPA) compliance policy? With recent clarifications to the TCPA made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), now may be the time to pull your TCPA policy off the shelf and give it a once-over. In July 2015, […]

