Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic through Dec. 3, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations arising from 263 inspections for violations relating to the coronavirus, resulting in proposed penalties of more than $3.5 million, the DOL said in a Dec. 11 press release. Inspections have led the agency to cite employers for failures to: implement a written respiratory protection program; provide workers with a respirator fit […]

The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is updating its inspection program that directs agency enforcement resources to establishments with the highest rates of injuries and illnesses. The Site-Specific Targeting (SST) Directive is OSHA’s primary targeting program for non-construction establishments with 20 or more employees. The agency selects establishments based on injury and illness data employers submitted on Form 300A for calendar years 2017-2019. The new directive […]

Look for the Biden administration to put health data privacy and security on the front burner next year. As attorney general for California, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Designate Xavier Becerra developed a track record as a proponent of consumer privacy initiatives. Most recently, his office developed and implemented the regulations for the roll-out of the California Consumer Privacy Act. He also took an active role in new laws addressing privacy and […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the resources and exposed the vulnerabilities of many hospitals as they confront the most serious global health crisis in over a century. Controlling the spread of this highly contagious virus while treating infected patients and protecting staff is fundamental to the mission of every healthcare facility. Yet infection control remains one of the most challenging aspects of hospital operations. Each year, healthcare-associated infections impact 1.7 million patients at U.S. acute […]

Concern for protecting and safely handling private health information continues to grow, especially with the reliance on electronic transmission. Federal regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provide guidelines to help ensure that healthcare providers, institutions and their business partners protect patient records. While it’s clear what health entities should do to ensure private health data safety, the role of medical devices in this effort is less well understood. Understanding protected […]

Customer loyalty is the ultimate goal of any business. Everyday companies should not only try to provide excellent service but also try to turn a dissatisfied customer into a happy one. But how can one calm down an angry patient without violating HIPAA regulations? Sounds like this poses an additional challenge to healthcare providers. In this article, PissedConsumer.com tells you about the most common HIPPA violations and gives tips on how to respond to online […]

October 28, 2020 – The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced it reached a $1 million settlement with Aetna to resolve potential HIPAA violations stemming from three separate patient data breaches in 2017. The insurance giant has already settled a class-action lawsuit filed by breach victims in January 2018 for $17 million, as well as California for $935,000 in January 2019 and other state attorneys general for more than $600,000 in October 2018. The OCR settlement stems from three security incidents […]

Fall is here, and as many had feared and predicted, COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in many parts of the U.S. Just last week, 3,400 nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, an area that’s been hit hard by the pandemic, urged executives to give them a safer environment with universal N95 masking, shuttle safety, communication about infections and effective quarantines. The message was simple: To adequately care for coronavirus patients, care […]

Throughout 2020, healthcare organizations have agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle HIPAA violations with HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. Here are four of the largest HIPAA settlements so far this year. 1. Premera Blue Cross agreed to pay OCR $6.85 million to settle potential violations related to a HIPAA breach that affected more than 10.4 million people. The settlement is the second largest payment to resolve a HIPAA investigation, which centered on a […]