HIPAA in the time of COVID-19: Recent updates and enforcement actions

Rachel V. Rose, JD, MBA, principal with Rachel V. Rose – Attorney at Law, P.L.L.C., Houston, TX presents. Throughout the pandemic, HHS-OCR has announced the use of its enforcement discretion when bringing forth HIPAA-related enforcement actions. This trend appears to be continuing as the vaccine roles out. Additionally, proposed changes to the Privacy Rule were released in December 2020 and OCR continues to enforce violations against providers for not providing a patient with his/her medical records. This presentation provides a timely overview of these items, as well as addressing key terms such “reasonable” and “good faith” in the context of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected health information.