North Shore Pain Management (NSPM), a Massachusetts-based healthcare provider, reported on June 18 a network server breach affecting 12,472 individuals.
Two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, people are gradually beginning to return to work. What steps need to be taken to make sure data and devices are secure?
Q: When dealing with a public health emergency, which disclosures are permitted to the media and which are not? Does HIPAA allow for any identifiable information to be disclosed to news organizations if the intention is to protect the public at large?
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance June 12 for healthcare providers interested in contacting former novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients about donating blood and plasma that could help other COVID-19 patients.
As soon as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) entered the United States, reports began to surface detailing an increased rate of cyberattacks against healthcare entities. That trend is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Q: Like other hospitals, we have had many patients transported via ambulance with COVID-19 symptoms. Once these patients are tested for the virus, are we permitted under HIPAA to disclose their test results to the first responders who treated them and brought them to the hospital?
The state of Kentucky disclosed recently that a healthcare portal used by state employees was hacked and the protected health information of nearly 1,000 members of the Kentucky Employees’ Health Plan (KEHP) was exposed.
Q: When dealing with a public health emergency, which disclosures are permitted to the media and which are not? Does HIPAA allow for any identifiable information to be disclosed to news organizations if the intention is to protect the public at large?
