On April 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to modify protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to strengthen reproductive health care privacy.
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Privacy Rule
HHS Releases Bulletin on Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates
On December 1, 2022, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a Bulletin on the obligations of HIPAA covered entities and business associates under the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules when using online tracking technologies. …
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New California Laws Enhance Reproductive Health Privacy Protections
On September 27, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a pair of bills designed to prevent medical information and other data held by California entities from being used in out-of-state abortion prosecutions.
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President Biden Issues Executive Order Protecting Privacy of Reproductive Health Data
On July 8, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order titled, “Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services,” in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. …
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HHS Issues Post-Dobbs Guidance to Protect Patient Privacy
On June 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued two guidance documents to “help protect patients seeking reproductive health care, as well as their providers” following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. …
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HHS Releases Guidance on Audio-Only Telehealth Practices
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights released guidance to help covered entities understand how they can use remote communication technologies for audio-only telehealth in compliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Specifically, the Guidance clarifies how audio-only telehealth can be conducted after OCR’s Notification of Enforcement Discretion for Telehealth, put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, is no longer in effect.
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OCR Guidance Regarding HIPAA’s Applicability to COVID-19 Vaccination Information
On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights issued guidance regarding when the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to disclosures and requests for information about a person’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The guidance addresses common workplace scenarios and answers questions about whether and how the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies.
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Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Vacates MD Anderson HIPAA Penalty
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently vacated a 4.3 million dollar civil monetary penalty imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights in 2017 against the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, holding that the penalty was “arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise unlawful.”…
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California Senate Proposes Amendment to CCPA to Address De-Identification and Information Used for Research and Public Health Purposes
On June 11, 2020, the California Senate amended AB-713 to the California Consumer Privacy Act. The Senate’s recent amendments impose new contractual obligations on the use or sale of de-identified information and modify the exemption from the CCPA for information used for public health purposes. …
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OCR Issues Bulletin on the Sharing and Security of PHI During Coronavirus Pandemic
The Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Bulletin on sharing and protecting patients’ protected health information during the COVID-19 national emergency. The Bulletin emphasizes that HIPAA-covered entities may use or disclose patients’ PHI when necessary to treat a patient, to protect the nation’s public health and for other critical purposes.
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