What can we expect from HIPAA & Construction Transaction Attorney in Chicago in 2021

As we’re all painfully aware, public health issues dominated 2020 and with the country’s attention focused on COVID-19 testing, status, transmission, and care, HIPAA went mainstream. Health information became critical not only for health care providers, but for all manner of businesses, employers, property owners, and the national media. As we have entered into 2021 with the pandemic raging on, the vaccination program underway, and a new administration taking over, here is a look at what we can expect from HIPPA attorney’s in 2021.   HIPAA attorneys provide customized and comprehensive training programs that cover individual client policies, procedures, practices, and business relationships, as well as the general HIPAA privacy and security standards. 

Addressing the complex IT-related issues that have emerged from HIPAA and other data security laws requires specialized resources that may not be available inside your organization. Experienced HIPAA attorneys can assist you through the changes, advising you in areas such as the following:

• advising on privacy design for medical apps, devices and websites, including privacy policies, terms of use and patient authorizations
• assisting in the development of clinical data repositories and data lakes
• counseling on your administrative requirements, including implementing appropriate IT security processes, to ensure administrative safeguards
• coordinating security analyses with experienced IT vendors

If you are healthcare providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically (e.g., billing a health plan). These are known as covered entities. Hospitals and most clinics, physicians and other health care practitioners are HIPAA covered entities. In addition, HIPAA attorneys can protect your PHI held by business associates, such as billing services and others, hired by covered entities to perform services or functions that involve access to PHI. 

This means that a HIPAA attorney performing legal services for a covered entity or as a subcontractor of a business associate, where the legal services involve the access, use, or disclosure of PHI by the covered entity or business associate, will be deemed a business associate and must comply with HIPAA. To avoid subjecting themselves or their clients to civil or criminal penalties for HIPAA violations, HIPAA attorneys who handle PHI for covered entities or business associates should take the following steps to ensure compliance and safeguard against claims of willful neglect.

• Execute a BAA with the covered entity
• Execute a BAA with subcontractors
• Respond to and report violations
• Cooperate with compliance investigations

On January 4 2021 City of Chicago Informs Residents of New Laws Coming into Effect in 2021. If you run a construction company it is advisable that your Construction Transaction Attorney in Chicago navigate the regulatory and permitting process, advise on capital development projects and construction transactions, handle labor and employment concerns, provide intellectual property protection, offer tax and real estate advice and handle any litigation or arbitration involving our clients when disputes arise in any setting. 

If you are a contractor, you need contractual protection on all your projects. Your business could be at stake if a lawsuit or a claim reveals that your construction company is not run within the guidelines imposed of the California Contractor’s Licensing Board. The real estate and construction transaction attorney can help contractors and property owners negotiate, draft, interpret and litigate construction contracts throughout various stages of construction projects. A Construction Transaction Attorney in Chicago who has a thorough understanding of construction practices has allowed us to pursue and defend construction defect claims, collection/payment claims, and delay claims, through mediation, arbitration and traditional litigation. Otherwise, you can find yourself in an abyss. 

Therefore before you begin work on your next improvement project, you should consult with your Construction Transaction Attorney to ensure that your business practices are consistent with the law, in an effort to minimize the potential for future disputes or liability, and to maximize your long-term business success and profitability. Rules are diverse in Illinois and with new amendments, an attorney can review the improvement contract to ensure that there are adequate protections to help you avoid common problems. For example, does the contract contain a completion schedule? How detailed is the scope of work? Is there a retention clause? Is there an indemnity provision requiring the contractor to defend and indemnify the property owner? An attorney can assist contractors and property owners alike with these and other common construction issues.

When you need clear, practical advice to achieve your real estate goals—whether it involves a mega industrial development venture or landlord/tenant office or retail lease issues an experienced Construction Transaction Attorney in Chicago can represent  developers, owners, construction firms, creditors and investors in all aspects of real estate development, diligence, transactions and litigation, including (but not limited to):

• Acquisition and Disposition of Commercial and Residential Property
• Commercial Leasing
• Lending and Finance
• Landlord/Tenant
• Mechanics’ Liens
• Easements
• Title-insurance matters
• Foreclosures

These are just a few of the cases where construction Transaction Attorney in Chicago & HIPAA attorney can assist you. It is always advisable that your attorney regularly reviews business associate agreements, and advises non-healthcare provider clients on the day-to-day issues arising from these Privacy and Security Rules as they relate to businesses.