million to settle allegations that it violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by disclosing protected health information (PHI) in a press release. The U.S. In addition to the $2.4 The post Disclosures in Press Release Lead to $2.4M MORE

HIPAA. Five letters that strike fear into the heart of anyone that handles employee medical information. That is, anyone except an NLRB judge passing judgment on whether an employer was justified in firing a union-supporting employee for clear HIPAA violations. The judge concluded that the employee’s HIPAA violation did not strip her of the Act’s protection. HIPAA isn’t the only law that mandates the confidentiality of medical information. MORE

Human Resources practitioners online receive frequent emails from employees that say, “I had a problem, so I went to HR. Well, here are some of the things that HR must act on. To keep reading, click here: What Is the Meaning of HR Confidentiality MORE

3 Takeaways from the HCCA 2018 Compliance Institute Apr. Last week, the 22nd Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) Compliance Institute was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The following represent my top takeaways from HCCA’s 2018 Compliance Institute. MORE

A New York hospital agreed to pay $387,200 to resolve Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy allegations that it disclosed a patient’s particularly sensitive health information, including HIV status, to his employer. The U.S. The CAP also requires St. MORE

What can tracking your employees’ training do for your human resources strategy? It keeps your workers in compliance with state or industry regulations and puts them on track for advancement so that your business can stay current with prevailing trends and maintain a workforce that is engaged and ready for the future. Continuing education (CE) is required within many fields for workers to stay up-to-date on new technologies, skills and developments within the industry. MORE

Employers that offer group health insurance plans to their employees have an interest in learning how employees’ entitlement to Medicare benefits can affect the administration of those plans. This article discusses the coordination of benefits between the two plans. MORE

Rarely do you find a business started for the sheer thrill of processing payroll or because hiring and firing people is a hobby. Nor does anyone start a business for the excitement they feel when complying with employment law. HIPAA compliance. Training and development. MORE

A Rhode Island health system’s $400,000 settlement of a federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)enforcement action illustrates the importance of keeping business associate agreements (BAAs) up to date when circumstances or regulations change. MORE

It’s not just the financial industry that faces risks from cybercriminals; healthcare organizations, with their massive databases full of personal information, have become common targets as well. Compliance specialists and leaders will have their work cut out for them in the coming year. “We MORE

The keys for plan sponsors to avoid penalties under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as well as other liability that may come with data breaches, were discussed by HIPAA experts in a recent webinar. Minimizing HIPAA Privacy Liability. MORE

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) imposes requirements to protect and help consumers maintain both their health insurance and their privacy. This is the main provision that most people are referring to when discussing “HIPAA compliance.”. MORE

The DOL, PPACA, ERISA, COBRA, and HIPAA all have separate guidelines for the ACA marketplace notice for initial and open benefit enrollment. Untangle the requirements for your own notice and learn best practices for including the notice seamlessly in your benefits strategy. The presentation covers what needs to be in the notice as well as rules for delivering the notice to employees. MORE

Regardless of your political views, I think it’s safe to say that the U.S. I’m not here to tell anyone how they should feel about the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I thought the information was timely, so asked him if he would share his knowledge with us. MORE

In a world of tight healthcare budgets and increasing pressure to implement new technology, many healthcare CIOs are looking to the cloud for solutions. For many in the field, these obligations have been a roadblock, and perhaps even a disincentive to make changes, especially digital ones. MORE

Conversations with health plans and providers about digital business processes often begin with a single question: “Is it HIPAA compliant?” With meaningful use fueling EHR adoption, in addition to the need for a secure, auditable solution, it is no wonder that regulations are top of mind for healthcare and life science professionals. Download this whitepaper to learn more. Learn more! . MORE

The year 2016 was by far the biggest yet for monetary settlements under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s (HIPAA) privacy and security rules, and 2017 thus far is proceeding apace, a leading HIPAA attorney told a recent conference. The U.S. MORE

If you follow the latest cybersecurity news, you are certainly aware of the Apple-FBI legal dispute in California. The dispute concerns purported “back doors” into iPhones as well as attempts to “hack” secure mobile devices. Indeed, in April, the U.S. MORE

Advocating for their workforce and the benefits they deserve is not only a drain of organizational resources, but an exhausting battle. The picture painted here is bleak, I won’t lie. Aberdeen research has identified three strategic approaches empowering employers to provide the best benefits administration for their workforce and for their organizations, and you can learn about them in this on-demand webinar, Benefits Management is Now an Analytics Game. MORE

Don’t let your secrets get away through the trash. You also don’t need to keep most of the records from an employee that you terminated 10 years ago. Industrial spies, ex-employees, reporters and other snoops go through the trash of companies looking for all sorts of records. MORE

In yesterday’s Advisor we began to explore ways of dealing with opioids in the workplace. Host Lunch and Learns and Information Sessions. Offer both mandatory and optional information sessions and training sessions about opioid use and addiction. MORE

More companies are looking to the cloud for business and data storage solutions, especially those in the healthcare space. If your business must be HIPAA-compliant, these 10 questions to ensure HIPAA compliance might save you some major headaches down the road. MORE

More companies are looking to the cloud for business and data storage solutions, especially those in the healthcare space. If your business must be HIPAA-compliant, these 10 questions to ensure HIPAA compliance might save you some major headaches down the road. MORE

Wearables and predictive analytics are more than just trendy tech tools—they have the potential to give safety and HR managers an edge in foreseeing and preventing workplace violence. the public, risky populations, etc.). This is not likely to be the case with personal wearables. MORE

Every state in the Union now has some type of law in place requiring companies to notify affected individuals of a data breach involving their information. South Dakota and Alabama, the final holdouts, enacted such measures in March. The law does not create a private right of action. MORE

The Kentucky Court of Appeals recently upheld the termination of a nurse who unintentionally disclosed a patient’s confidential health information while she was conducting a procedure. The circuit court dismissed her claims, and Michelle appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. MORE

Yesterday we learned that the U.S. The OCR plans to conduct desk and on-site audits for both covered entities and their business associates. The first set of audits will be desk audits of covered entities followed by a second round of desk audits of business associates. MORE

Certification management is crucial for businesses across a multitude of industries, yet the administrative upkeep is a nightmare. Unfortunately, the consequences of non-compliance are even more dangerous. Look no further than the airline industry. MORE

ERISA stands for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. In short, this is the federal law that creates standards for retirement, health, and pension plans. The Act advises when employees must be allowed to join the plan. MORE

The Role of HIPAA Laws in Human Resources. When it comes to topics of privacy especially concerning employee healthcare benefits, HIPAA is one of the most misunderstood and miscommunicated for employers and employees. HIPAA is nebulous and in combination with any employer healthcare plan it creates a great deal of confusion and frustration for managers, HR and employees. What is HIPAA? The HIPAA Privacy Rule as outlined by the U.S. MORE

Federal regulators have released the next round of HIPAA audits, including their priorities for privacy and security guidance. Learn what you’ll need to do in order to comply. The post Ready for your HIPAA Audits? appeared first on Mercer PeoplePro Blog. Health & Wellness Barbara Jessen emerging business entrepreneur entrepreneurs human resources SBA SCORE SHRM small business small business advice small business incubators start ups MORE

Originally, I was toying with titling this post, “ What Employers Can Learn From Military Nurses Who Pose Newborns Dancing to 50 Cent, Give Them The Finger, And Then Snap A Video And Photo Captioned, ‘How I currently feel about these mini Satans.’ MORE

File this one under the category of I can’t make this stuff up. Apparently, Justin Bieber’s testicles are at the center of a recently filed sex discrimination lawsuit. On the day in question … Lombardo heard a rumor that Bieber was in for a sexually transmitted infection. MORE

The trouble with recordkeeping at a lot of companies: You don’t know how complete your records are until you get involved in litigation or an audit. To be on the safe side, many employment law attorneys recommend you keep everything for at least five to seven years after an employee has left. MORE

This post is a guest post from Mark Combs who is the CEO of ACAReportingService.com. It provides some very important information for all employers dealing with the ACA reporting. For many the process given to us by the IRS has been painful and required quite a steep learning curve. MORE

Metro Community Provider Network (MCPN) filed the required breach report with HHS in January 2012. And when MCPN finally did start conducting risk analyses, they were insufficient to comply with HIPAA’s security rule. The settlement also includes a detailed corrective action plan. MORE