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ARTICLE · 25 OCTOBER 2017

Cybersecurity 2018 – The Year In Preview: HIPAA Compliance

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This is the first of a multi-part end-of-year series examining important trends in data privacy and cybersecurity during the coming year.

United StatesPrivacy
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Foley Hoag LLP
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Like many things in Washington, the HIPAA landscape in 2018 will be shaped by the shifting priorities of President Trump's new administration.  Early signs point to less funding for the Office of Civil Rights ("OCR") within the Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for enforcing HIPAA.  This is likely to lead to fewer enforcement actions, but not necessarily less aggressive enforcement within those actions, as enforcement settlement is set to become an increasingly important part of OCR's budget.  On the state level, the work OCR is unable to do may be taken up by state attorneys general eager to protect the privacy concerns of their constituents and contrast themselves with the Trump administration.

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