A recent HIPAA breach serves as a wake-up call for all businesses handling protected health information (PHI)—especially small and midsize organizations. On April 23, 2025 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $600,000 settlement with PIH Health, Inc., a California-based healthcare network. The reason? A phishing...
HIPAA enforcement isn’t just about avoiding fines—it’s about protecting patient trust and sustaining your business. For small and midsize healthcare organizations, understanding how the enforcement process works—and how recent audit trends affect you—is essential for staying secure and compliant. In this post, we’ll demystify the HIPAA enforcement process, highlight the recent rise in random audits,...
Recent OCR Settlements Prove Small Healthcare Providers Can’t Afford to Ignore Cybersecurity In 2025, cybersecurity threats continue to dominate the healthcare industry, with ransomware, phishing attacks, and other breaches affecting thousands of organizations. For small to medium-sized healthcare businesses, the stakes are high. Non-compliance with HIPAA’s Security and Privacy Rules can lead to devastating financial...
Navigating the complexities of HIPAA compliance can feel overwhelming, especially for small healthcare practices. With the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) ramping up random audits in 2024, it’s essential to understand the common pitfalls that can lead to HIPAA violations. Let’s dive into five frequent mistakes and how you can steer clear of them. 1....
Case Summary In a groundbreaking development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reached a settlement with Lafourche Medical Group, a Louisiana-based medical facility, following a phishing cyberattack that compromised the electronic protected health information of nearly 35,000 patients. This marks the first settlement under HIPAA related to a phishing attack, following...
A recent investigation by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) alleges that several security guards from Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital impermissibly accessed the medical records of 419 individuals. This incident highlights the importance of maintaining strict protocols and vigilant oversight when it comes to safeguarding sensitive patient information. The details involving the hospital security guards...
The Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing and protecting civil rights and privacy rights in the healthcare industry. With the increasing number of complaints and reviews regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, the...
HIPAA & Tracking Technologies Tracking technologies such as Google Analytics and Meta Pixel are designed to collect and analyze user data for online activity. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently issued a notification regarding these and the obligation to HIPAA from the covered entities...
Having an asset management plan is essential to your healthcare business. Similar to how you’d want a list of your household items for insurance coverage in the event of theft or loss, you need to know the details and access them quickly. Especially if an item goes missing or breaks. It is likely that your...
The HIPAA Security Rule includes requirements for a security incident response plan that are important to know especially as the number of reported data breaches continues to rise. The Data Check Point Research provided a mid-year report on cyber attack trends that indicated a 69% increase in targeted healthcare data breaches between 2021 and 2022. ...
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