Skip to main content

Nixon Peabody LLP

  • People
  • Capabilities
  • Insights
  • About
Trending Topics
    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    Practices

    View All

    • Affordable Housing
    • Community Development Finance
    • Corporate & Finance
    • Cybersecurity & Privacy
    • Entertainment & Media
    • Environmental
    • Franchising & Distribution
    • Government Investigations & White Collar Defense
    • Healthcare
    • Intellectual Property
    • International Services
    • Labor, Employment, and Benefits
    • Litigation
    • Private Wealth & Advisory
    • Project Finance
    • Public Finance
    • Real Estate
    • Regulatory & Government Relations
    Industries

    View All

    • Aviation
    • Cannabis
    • Consumer
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Higher Education
    • Infrastructure
    • Manufacturing
    • Nonprofit Organizations
    • Real Estate
    • Sports & Stadiums
    • Technology
    Value-Added Services

    View All

    • Alternative Fee Arrangements

      Developing innovative pricing structures and alternative fee agreement models that deliver additional value for our clients.

    • Continuing Education

      Advancing professional knowledge and offering credits for attorneys, staff and other professionals.

    • Crisis Advisory

      Helping clients respond correctly when a crisis occurs.

    • DEI Strategic Services

      Providing our clients with legal, strategic, and practical advice to make transformational changes in their organizations.

    • eDiscovery

      Leveraging law and technology to deliver sound solutions.

    • Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

      We help clients create positive return on investments in people, products, and the planet.

    • Global Services

      Delivering seamless service through partnerships across the globe.

    • Innovation

      Leveraging leading-edge technology to guide change and create seamless, collaborative experiences for clients and attorneys.

    • IPED

      Industry-leading conferences focused on affordable housing, tax credits, and more.

    • Legal Project Management

      Providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making.

    • Legally Green

      Teaming with clients to advance sustainable projects, mitigate the effects of climate change, and protect our planet.

    • Nixon Peabody Trust Company

      Offering a range of investment management and fiduciary services.

    • NP Capital Connector

      Bringing together companies and investors for tomorrow’s new deals.

    • NP Second Opinion

      Offering fresh insights on cases that are delayed, over budget, or off-target from the desired resolution.

    • NP Trial

      Courtroom-ready lawyers who can resolve disputes early on clients’ terms or prevail at trial before a judge or jury.

    • Social Impact

      Creating positive impact in our communities through increasing equity, access, and opportunity.

    • Women in Dealmaking

      We provide strategic counsel on complex corporate transactions and unite dynamic women in the dealmaking arena.

    1. Home
    2. Insights
    3. Articles
    4. FCC guidance recommends education and outreach to address illegal robocalls to hospitals

      Articles

    Article

    FCC guidance recommends education and outreach to address illegal robocalls to hospitals

    June 16, 2021

    LinkedInX (Twitter)EmailCopy URL

    By Valerie Montague and Jason Kravitz

    Seeking to secure voluntary adoption of best practices to stem harmful robocalls, the FCC calls on the AHA and other hospital risk management organizations to educate their members.

    The deluge of robocalls directed at hospitals has caused chaos in the health care industry over the last few years by overwhelming communications networks with fraudulent and disruptive robocalls, many of which are so-called spoofing calls designed to extract financial or insurance information about patients or hospital workers. Recognizing that these robocalls were creating a clear and present danger to patient and staff privacy and posing a threat to public safety, Congress directed the FCC to establish the Hospital Robocall Protection Group (HRPG) in the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act of 2019 (TRACED Act). The HRPG issued a report in December 2020 recommending voluntary best practices for hospitals and other health care facilities to minimize the impact of these unlawful robocalls. On June 11, 2021, the FCC published its assessment of HRPG’s recommended best practices and endorsing their voluntary adoption as an effective strategy for minimizing the havoc these unwanted calls can cause.

    The FCC recommends that hospitals educate clinicians and staff to identify unlawful robocalls, thereby minimizing the risk that those calls can interfere with patient care and hospital operations. The FCC is also encouraging hospitals to create a robocall incident response plan and increase their robocall blocking and labeling offerings from their phone providers. Acknowledging that voluntary adoption of the best practices requires a coordinated approach by hospitals, voice service providers, and federal and state law enforcement agencies, the FCC further recommends improved communication between law enforcement and hospitals to maximize law enforcement’s chance of identifying the source of the robocalls.

    Tasked to determine the best means of facilitating adoption of these best practices, the FCC determined that education of, and outreach to, hospitals are the preferred avenues. The FCC guidance suggests that the American Hospital Association, the American Society for Health Care Risk Management, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, and other organizations focused on hospital risk management and security are best positioned to provide outreach and training to hospitals. The FCC’s guidance suggests that these organizations take “primary responsibility” for developing educational materials and providing outreach to their constituencies on the best practices for addressing illegal robocalls.

    Nixon Peabody’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Team will continue to monitor the FCC’s efforts to combat illegal robocalls in the health care industry.

    Practices

    Cybersecurity & PrivacyHealthcare
    The foregoing has been prepared for the general information of clients and friends of the firm. It is not meant to provide legal advice with respect to any specific matter and should not be acted upon without professional counsel. If you have any questions or require any further information regarding these or other related matters, please contact your regular Nixon Peabody LLP representative. This material may be considered advertising under certain rules of professional conduct.

    Subscribe to stay informed of the latest legal news, alerts, and business trends.Subscribe

    • People
    • Capabilities
    • Insights
    • About
    • Locations
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Alumni
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Statement of Client Rights
    • Purchase Order Terms & Conditions
    • Nixon Peabody International LLC
    • PAL
    © 2025 Nixon Peabody. All rights reserved