Recently, a federal court judge dismissed a lawsuit that an Ohio woman filed claiming that a hospital did not safeguard her EMR (electronic medical records). In an interesting twist, the woman alleged that her husband, who worked at the hospital, was able to access her EMR and share them with a co-worker. This was not just any co-worker. Allegedly, it was a co-worker with whom the husband was having an [...]
I thought I'd spend the next few blogs discussing the joy that is HIPAA compliance. Previously, I blogged about two NMC employees who had been fired after viewing the protected health information of Dr. Richard Sacra, one of the patients treated at the NMC for ebola. The potential fines and penalties that come with a HIPAA violation likely played a large role in these firings. But let's start from the very [...]
Let's be honest. Selfies are fun. They are great ways of capturing the moment. Like my daughter and I on the merry-go-round at FunPlex this summer. Selfies can also get you in lots of trouble. I can honestly say I have never had a doctor or other health care provider ask whether taking a selfie during surgery is a good idea. It's not. As some doctors in China recently discovered. [...]
REO Speedwagon might have been discussing the Nebraska Supreme Court's recent opinion in C.E. v. Prairie Fields Family Medicine, P.C., 287 Neb. 667 (2014) in their famous song, "Take it on the Run." The Prairie Fields case dealt with the issue of whether a patient could sue a medical provider for intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress for the alleged unauthorized disclosure of that patient's testing positive for HIV. In [...]
Last month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a first-of-its-kind settlement involving a breach of unsecured electronic protected health information. The Hospice of North Idaho agreed to pay HHS $50,000 to settle potential violations of the HIPAA security rule. The case arose when the hospice reported to HHS that an unencrypted laptop computer containing the electronic protected health information of 441 patients had been stolen. During its investigation, [...]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yesterday unveiled long awaited changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). The release is comprised of four final rules combined into a single omnibus rule designed to reduce the impact and number of times certain compliance activities need to be undertaken by regulated entities. Important provisions include: An expansion of HIPAA's scope to apply many HIPAA provisions [...]
Recently, it was reported that probation files in the custody of a probation officer were stolen (along with the officer’s car in which the files were left). Those records were later recovered (along with the car). Whether records or information is stolen, or simply lost, this is a reminder of a real risk that litigators face. We frequently are traveling to and from depositions, meetings, hearings and the like. We also frequently transport paper [...]
