Biography
Jeffery P. Drummond’s areas of focus include representing hospitals, physicians, laboratories, surgery centers, and other healthcare providers in transactional and regulatory matters. Jeff is involved in drafting contracts, negotiating business relationships, and analyzing healthcare regulations in the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and tax exemption areas. For many years, Jeff was listed in the “red book” as nationally recognized bond counsel.
Jeff is best known for his experience in HIPAA and medical record privacy, as well as other data privacy and security issues. He was recognized for his experience with HIPAA while the regulations were very new, has been involved in the HIPAA compliance activities of hundreds of entities and institutions, and has drafted thousands of HIPAA forms, documents, agreements, and policies and procedures. It is possible that more practitioners are using Jeff’s HIPAA documents than any other HIPAA attorney, given that he drafted the form documents offered by the Texas Medical Association to its physician members. Jeff is a frequent speaker on HIPAA and cybersecurity issues, speaking to large and small healthcare entities, lawyers, and other vendors to the healthcare industry. Since 2002, Jeff has written a weblog on HIPAA matters at www.hipaablog.blogspot.com, and regularly tweets about HIPAA under the Twitter handle @JeffDrummond.
Jeff is also a contributing editor to D Magazine’s web publication “D Healthcare Daily,” a member of the editorial advisory board of “Report on Patient Privacy,” and was named a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” in the healthcare field in 2014 by D Magazine. Jeff is an adjunct professor in the Naveen Jindal School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas, teaching a course on Healthcare Law, Policy and Regulation.
Education
B.A., cum laude, University of Dallas
J.D., University of Texas School of Law
Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US)
Certified HIPAA Professional (CHP)
Bar Admissions
Texas, 1987
Jeff primarily serves clients in the health industry, specifically:
- Nonprofit, for-profit, and public hospitals
- Surgery centers, imaging centers, dialysis centers, and other ancillary providers
- Drug, device, and durable medical equipment developers and suppliers
- Single-specialty and multi-specialty physician practices of all sizes
- Technology companies and app developers in the health industry
Jeff provides a wide variety of services to his clients in the corporate, transactional, and regulatory areas, including advising clients regarding:
- Entity formation, dissolution, and operations
- Stark, Anti-Kickback, and other federal regulatory matters
- Licensure and certification issues
- Other healthcare regulatory compliance matters
- HIPAA, HITECH, and GINA compliance matters
- Data privacy risk analysis, policy development, implementation, and training
- Medical record retention, protection, and destruction issues
- Medical record and other data breach investigation and reporting
Jeff has successfully represented numerous healthcare providers who have suffered data breaches, including direct negotiations with the Office for Civil Rights relating to potential HIPAA breaches. Jeff has also assisted companies in other industries with addressing potential data breach incidents involving the Gramm Leach Bliley Act and other data protection laws and regulations. In addition to federal regulatory issues, these incidents included potential notification requirements in multiple states and foreign jurisdictions.
- Represented a hospital system and a dental practice in investigating, addressing, and remediating possible ransomware attacks.
- Represented a medical school in investigating and responding to a potential breach of patient information.
- Represented two large public hospitals in the formation of private-public service organizations to serve as Section 1115 Waiver organizations.
- Represented multiple large single-specialty physician groups in mergers and consolidations.
- Represented an oncology team in transitioning their existing practice to form a new practice entity.
- Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Ranked for Healthcare – Texas, 2018-2022
- The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), Healthcare Law, 2018-2022
- AV Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
- Best Lawyer in Dallas – Healthcare, D Magazine, 2014, 2018-2020
- American Health Lawyers Association
- National Association of Bond Counsel
- State Bar of Texas – Health Law Section
- Dallas Bar Association – Health Law Section, Chairman, 2001
- Oak Hill Academy
- Board of Trustees, 2007–2013
- Chairman, 2010–2013
- Oak Highlands Estates Homeowners’ Association
- Board, 2011–Present
- President, 2011–2015
June 1, 2022
SpotlightChambers and Partners Recognizes Jackson Walker Attorneys and Practices in 2022 USA and Global Guides
Jackson Walker is pleased to announce that Chambers and Partners has selected 48 attorneys and 16 departments for inclusion in the 2022 edition of the Global and USA guides.
January 17, 2022
MentionsPatient Blocks Exam Elements? Work With Them Before Turning Them Away | Part B News (Subscription Required)
Providers are usually obliged by contract and allowed by HIPAA to communicate an insured patient’s medical information to insurers. But, Jeff Drummond says, such patients may avail an exception in the HITECH Act that he calls the “hide rule,” by which “a patient may request that a health care provider not provide information relating to a particular service or treatment to an insurer for payment or health care operations purposes, so long as the patient has paid for the service or treatment in full, out of pocket, prior to making the request,” he says.
August 19, 2021
Attorney News‘The Best Lawyers in America’ Honors 178 Jackson Walker Attorneys in 2022 Edition, Including 8 “Lawyers of the Year” and 31 “Ones to Watch”
The Best Lawyers in America has recognized 178 Jackson Walker attorneys across 6 offices and 67 specialty practice areas in its 2022 edition, including 8 Lawyers of the Year and 31 Ones to Watch. Best Lawyers listings are based on an exhaustive peer review survey of thousands of attorneys who vote on the legal abilities of others in their practice areas.
August 13, 2021
MentionsStill Missing a New Leader, Former OCR Directors, Experts Offer Advice, Task List | Report on Patient Privacy
Issue a final rule revising the privacy regulation and write guidance on the information blocking rule. Formalize the fledgling audit program required by Congress more than 10 years ago. Engage with providers and other HIPAA-regulated entities. And by all means, get cracking.
June 10, 2021
MentionsIs It Legal for Businesses to Require Customers to Be Vaccinated? | Daily Caller
On June 20, 2021, Foo Fighters will perform at Madison Square Garden with only vaccinated people allowed to attend the full-capacity concert. In a Daily Caller article discussing the legality of private businesses refusing services to customers based on their vaccination status, Jeff Drummond noted: “HIPAA isn’t an issue. HIPAA only applies to health plans, health care data translation companies (called “health care clearinghouses”), and most (but not all) health care providers. Airlines, restaurants, landlords, and non-health care business owners are not subject to HIPAA.”
May 20, 2021
SpotlightChambers and Partners Recognizes Jackson Walker Attorneys and Practices in 2021 USA and Global Guides
Jackson Walker is pleased to announce that Chambers and Partners has selected 41 attorneys and 14 departments for inclusion in the 2021 edition of the Global and USA guides.
April 7, 2021
MentionsJeff Drummond Discusses Vaccine Passports and Whether They Violate HIPAA Laws
Healthcare partner Jeff Drummond discusses COVID-19 vaccine passports and the protections provided to an individual.
March 8, 2021
Client ResultsJackson Walker Advises Kamada in Acquiring FDA-Licensed Plasma Collection Center
Marisela Gonzalez and Virginia Mimmack led a Jackson Walker team advising Kamada Ltd. in its acquisition of Blood and Plasma Research, Inc. With the acquisition, Kamada enters the U.S. plasma collection market and advances its strategic goal to become a fully integrated specialty plasma company.
January 1, 2021
MentionsOCR Seeking Ways to Improve HIPAA, Respond to Value Concerns | Healthcare Risk Management
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is asking the public for ways to modify HIPAA regulations, specifically to drive cost savings and value, notes Jeff Drummond. The changes are intended to help HIPAA mesh better with coordinated care platforms and improve care coordination, he says.
October 20, 2020
Client ResultsJackson Walker Provides Pro Bono Legal Services to Community Labs, a Nonprofit Public Health Initiative, to Amplify COVID-19 Testing in San Antonio
As COVID-19 numbers continue to rise in South Texas, a number of charitable groups in San Antonio are launching Community Labs to create a safe pathway for schools to reopen, people to return to work, and communities to recover.
- “Patient blocks exam elements? Work with them before turning them away,” Part B News (January 2022)
- “Still Missing a New Leader, Former OCR Directors, Experts Offer Advice, Task List,” Report on Patient Privacy, Vol. 21, Num. 8 (August 2021)
- “Is It Legal For Businesses To Require Customers To Be Vaccinated?,” Daily Caller (June 2021)
- “Does a Vaccine Passport Violate HIPAA Laws?,” WFAA-TV (March 2021)
- “OCR Seeking Ways to Improve HIPAA, Respond to Value Concerns,” Relias Media (January 2021)
- “HIPAA Compliance a Concern as Working from Home Becomes Norm,” Relias Media (July 2020)
- “Prepare for closer HIPAA scrutiny of telehealth as states and practices cautiously reopen,” Part B News (July 2020)
- “Security Experts Warn of Elevated Threat of Medical ID Theft During Coronavirus Pandemic,” CBS 11 Dallas/Fort Worth (June 2020)
- “Kern County Public Health sends addresses of positive COVID-19 patients to local first responders,” 23ABC News – Bakersfield (May 2020)
- “Should HOAs and landlords ask if you have COVID-19? Should you tell them?,” The Dallas Morning News (April 2020)
- “Deterrent Effect of OCR Fines Unknown; Expert Advises Against ‘Rolling the Dice,'” Report on Patient Privacy, Vol. 19, Num. 7 (July 2019)
- “Updates in HIPAA Compliance,” Dallas Bar Association Health Law Section (July 2019)
- “Merger called off between Baylor Scott & White, Memorial Hermann,” Dallas Business Journal (February 2019)
- “How size plays into Baylor Scott & White’s planned merger with Memorial Hermann,” Dallas Business Journal (October 2018)
- “Remember your baby’s newborn pictures? They may still be online.,” DataBreaches.net (May 2018)
- “Parkland hospital ex-employee pleads guilty to illegally leaking patient info for tax fraud scheme,” The Dallas Morning News (April 2018)
- “Misdirected medical documents reveal patient privacy issue,” WFAA News 8 (February 2017)