Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations are on the rise, with the number of affected individuals nearly tripling between 2022 and 2024, according to data compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”).[1] OCR data also reveals a 239% and 278% increase in hacking incidents and ransomware attacks, respectively, between January 2018 and September 2023.Continue Reading New York Adopts Comprehensive Hospital Cybersecurity Requirements
Under the banner of strengthening consumer data protection, Texas is ramping up enforcement of its comprehensive data privacy act, sending a nationwide signal that Texas is serious about safeguarding the personal data of consumers.Continue Reading Texas AG Targets Data Use Under New Privacy Law
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and its contractor, Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (“WPS”), recently notified over 940,000 Medicare beneficiaries of a data breach that has potentially exposed their protected health information (“PHI”) and personally identifiable information (“PII”). CMS reported on the breach portal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) that the total number of impacted people was 3,112,815 individuals.Continue Reading Over 940,000 Medicare Beneficiaries Impacted by Data Breach
Ethical hackers are becoming crucial allies in the battle against healthcare data breaches and ransomware attacks. In the twelfth episode of Sheppard Mullin’s Health-e Law Podcast, Ilona Cohen, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Policy Officer of HackerOne, delved into the pressing issue of cybersecurity in the healthcare sector and the pivotal role that ethical hacking may play, with Sheppard Mullin’s Phil Kim, Sara Shanti, and Michael Sutton.Continue Reading Healthcare Needs More Hackers: A Discussion with Ilona Cohen
With technology rapidly evolving and jurisdictions appearing blurred, it is increasingly important to be mindful of data flow and use. This is particularly true where patient data is being accessed by offshore subcontractors.Continue Reading Do You Catch Our Drift? Navigating the Waters of Offshoring and Patient Data
Gradually, data is being recognized as an asset in an increasingly data-hungry healthcare industry. In the tenth episode of Sheppard Mullin’s Health-e Law Podcast, Arti Bedi Pullins, President and Chief Healthcare Officer at QuestionPro, discusses how industry players can recognize the value of data as an asset with Sheppard Mullin’s Digital Health Team co-chairs, Sara Shanti and Phil Kim.Continue Reading Assessing Data Assets in Healthcare: A Discussion with Arti Bedi Pullins
This week, in a significant win for the American Hospital Association plaintiff, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an opinion vacating the Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) guidance on the use of online tracking technologies under HIPAA. At the heart of the dispute was the guidance released by HHS in December of 2022 and then updated again in March of 2024 (collectively, the “Guidance”), which suggested that information collected from unauthenticated website visitors could be considered protected health information (“PHI”) under HIPAA. The Guidance was challenged by hospitals and healthcare providers who argued it exceeded HHS’ statutory authority under HIPAA and imposed unreasonable compliance burdens.Continue Reading HIPAA Web Tracking Guidance Vacated
This is the second post in a two-part series on PrivacyCon’s key-takeaways for healthcare organizations. The first post focused on healthcare privacy issues.[1] This post focuses on insights and considerations relating to the use of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in healthcare. In the AI segment of the event, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) covered: (1) privacy themes; (2) considerations for Large Language Models (“LLMs”); and (3) AI functionality.Continue Reading Artificial Intelligence Highlights from FTC’s 2024 PrivacyCon
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) hosted its annual PrivacyCon event, featuring an array of experts discussing the latest in privacy and data security research. This post, covering healthcare privacy issues, is the first in a two-part series on PrivacyCon’s key takeaways for healthcare organizations. The second post will cover topics on artificial intelligence in healthcare.Continue Reading Healthcare Highlights from FTC’s 2024 PrivacyCon
On November 2, 2023, the American Hospital Association and Texas Hospital Association, in conjunction with the Texas Health Resources and United Regional Health Care System, filed suit against the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) regarding OCR’s guidance on the use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA entities.[i] This action and its results will impact how healthcare entities must protect and may use certain information collected on their digital sites.Continue Reading Caught in the Web: Hospital Associations Sue OCR on Third-Party Web Tracking Guidance
As more and more states are enacting privacy laws, organizations in the health care industry may be wondering what the impact these laws will have on them. At this point, there are privacy laws in 12 states, with one more (Delaware) likely to be signed by the governor soon. Those laws are in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. (There is also a new law in Delaware currently pending the governor’s signature). Not all are in effect. Only the laws in California, Connecticut, Colorado and Virginia are effective. The others will go into effect between December of this year and 2026, as follows:Continue Reading State Privacy Law Roundup: What Health Care Companies Need to Know