PHI
What Does PHI Mean in Healthcare? A Real-World Guide
A Receptionist, a Fax Machine, and a $1.5 Million Fine A few years ago, I consulted with a specialty clinic where a front-desk employee
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Healthcare Privacy
A collection of 22 posts
HIPAA Titles
5 Titles of HIPAA: What Each One Actually Covers
Here's something that surprises most people in healthcare: the law they cite every single day — HIPAA — has five distinct sections, and the vast
HIPAA Exceptions
When Does HIPAA Not Apply? Surprising Exceptions
A personal trainer asks a client about her recent knee surgery. A school nurse hands a student's immunization record to a teacher. A
HIPAA Authorization
What Is a HIPAA Authorization? A Practical Guide
The Form That Stops Lawsuits — or Starts Them A surgeon's office in Texas faxed a patient's psychiatric records to an employer.
HIPAA Refresher Training
HIPAA Refresher Training: Why Annual Reviews Save Millions
A hospital in New York paid $4.8 million to settle HIPAA violations after a former employee — who had been terminated — still had active access
PHI
What Is PHI in Medical Terms? A Plain-English Guide
A hospital receptionist in Texas once emailed a spreadsheet of 800 patient names, birth dates, and insurance IDs to the wrong clinic. Within 72 hours,
PHI Examples
PHI Examples HIPAA: 18 Identifiers You Must Protect
A Faxed Lab Report Sent to the Wrong Number Started It All A nurse at a mid-size clinic in Minnesota faxed a patient's
Patient Privacy Rights
Patient Privacy Rights: What Your Practice Gets Wrong
A Mother Couldn't Get Her Own Son's Medical Records — Then the Feds Got Involved In 2019, a small medical practice in
HIPAA Basics
What Does HIPAA Stand For? More Than You Think
A front desk receptionist at a dermatology clinic in Phoenix once told a patient's employer — over the phone — that the patient had been
HIPAA for Leaders Training
HIPAA for Leaders Training: Why Executives Own the Risk
The CEO Who Learned HIPAA the Hard Way In 2018, the owner of a small health plan called Filefax agreed to pay $100,000 to
Covered Entity
Covered Entity HIPAA: Who Qualifies and Why It Matters
A $5.1 Million Mistake Started with One Wrong Assumption In 2017, Memorial Healthcare System paid $5.1 million to settle with the Office for
HIPAA Importance
HIPAA Importance: Why Compliance Is Non-Negotiable
In February 2024, OCR announced a $4.75 million settlement with Montefiore Medical Center after a former employee stole the protected health information of over