A federal $25,000 HIPAA settlement with a clinical laboratory is significant because it calls for a wide-ranging corrective action plan. And the enforcement action is unusual because it’s the result of a compliance review of a covered entity not directly tied to the data breach that triggered the investigation. Under the settlement, Peachstate Health Management LLC, a Georgia-based clinical laboratory company, must implement comprehensive reforms of its HIPAA Security Rule compliance program and designate an […]

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) this week announced a settlement with Peachstate Health Management LLC (aka AEON Clinical Laboratories) following a compliance review that uncovered alleged violations of HIPAA. The settlement includes a $25,000 payment to OCR by Peachstate, a corrective action plan, and three years of monitoring by OCR. OCR initiated a compliance review of Peachstate in December 2017 to determine its compliance with HIPAA following a report of a data breach by […]

Asking someone about their COVID-19 vaccination status can be a touchy subject. While some are happy to chat about being vaccinated, others want to keep that information private. Some, including Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have claimed that being asked about their vaccination status is a HIPAA violation. But others have said that’s not actually true. So what’s really going on here? Read on for what you need to know. What is HIPAA, again? You’re […]

Pandemic pressures, alongside staff fatigue and stress, are the most likely causes of a “high incidence” of sharps injuries among nurses in the past year, a report from the Royal College of Nursing has suggested. The fact that not all nurses have access to safer sharps or appropriate training and education could also be a contributing factor, said the report, which is based on responses from more than 7,500 RCN members. The report, called Blood […]