Can I share a coronavirus patient’s information to protect the public?

This month in light of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin reminding HIPAA covered entities and their business associates of the ways they may share patient information during an outbreak of infectious disease or other emergency situations.

Do you understand what PHI is?

An apparent lack of understanding of what defines Protected Health Information (PHI) has cost one hospital system $2.175 million in fines to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

HHS reduces maximum civil penalties for HIPAA violations

The HHS published a Notification of Enforcement Discretion Regarding HIPAA Civil Money Penalties that changes the interpretation of fines for violations defined under the HITECH Act, effectively reducing some of the annual limits.