The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), has announced a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) settlement based on the impermissible disclosure of unsecured electronic protected health information (ePHI). CardioNet has agreed to settle potential noncompliance with the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules by paying $2.5 million and implementing a corrective action plan. This settlement is the first involving a wireless health services provider, as CardioNet provides remote mobile monitoring of and rapid response to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias.

The Center for Children's Digestive Health (CCDH) has paid the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $31,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and agreed to implement a corrective action plan. CCDH is a small, for-profit health care provider with a pediatric subspecialty practice that operates its practice in seven clinic locations in Illinois.

On March 27, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a new resource titled, Measuring Compliance Effectiveness: A Resource Guide. The intent of this guide is to provide numerous ideas for measuring the various elements of a compliance program.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides short video and audio presentations for health care providers on top health care compliance topics. These free videos and audio podcasts - averaging about four minutes each - cover major health care fraud and abuse laws, the basics of health care compliance programs, and what to do when a compliance issue arises.

Selecting and negotiating the acquisition of an electronic health record system (EHR) is a challenging but important undertaking for any health care provider organization. The guide issued by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is intended to help the health care provider understand how to manage risks via an EHR contract in order to maximize the value of a health IT investment, whether acquiring the first EHR or upgrading or replacing existing technology.