HIPAA Journal provides the most comprehensive coverage of HIPAA news anywhere online, in addition to independent advice about HIPAA compliance and the best practices to adopt to avoid data breaches, HIPAA violations and regulatory fines. Health Plan Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI through Training, Mitigation, and Sanctions Talking about a patient in a public area where others can hear you is a HIPAA violation. Read more, Arbour Hospital, a mental health clinic in Boston, MA, failed to provide a patient with the requested medical records within 30 days. > Case Examples The. Patient Sues Clinician for Privacy Violation After Practice Responds to The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. Read More, New England Dermatology and Laser Center in Massachusetts disposed of empty specimen containers in regular dumpsters between February 4, 2011, and March 31, 2021. Common HIPAA violations include verbal discussions of PHI in public areas of a healthcare facility, stolen laptops used in patient care, accessing PHI when the access is not directly related to or while providing care to a patient and, in this reader's case, placing a patient's healthcare document in the regular trash. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. HIPAA violation compromises a patient and lands a nurse in hot water All staff was trained on the revised procedures. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged AIMS refused to give her a copy of her medical records. Read More, OCR has just announced it has agreed to the largest ever HIPAA settlement with a single covered entity. To remedy this situation, the private practice revised its policies and procedures regarding the disclosure of PHI and trained all physicians and staff members on the new policies and procedures. Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research A penalty of $2.7 million will be paid by OHSU to settle alleged HIPAA violations without admission of liability. Gossip HIPAA Violations: When, Where, How and Why Etactics Cancel Any Time. Issue: Conditioning Compliance with the Privacy Rule. Read More, Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services (BILHBS) is the largest provider of mental health and substance use disorder services in eastern Massachusetts. OCR received a complaint from a patient who had not been provided with her medical records after a 2-month wait. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. Issue: Notice. Read more, Advanced Spine & Pain Management, a provider of chronic pain-related medical services in Cincinnati and Springboro, OH, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. The case was settled for $3,500. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality. To avoid these, a proactive approach should include a regular risk assessment and corrective action plan. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. Read More, OCR investigated three breaches involving the loss of a laptop computer and two unencrypted thumb drives containing patients PHI. The minimum fines are $100 per violation for tier 1, $1,000 per violation for tier 2, $10,000 per violation for tier 3, and $50,000 per violation for tier 4. A contested hearing took place, and the board found the nurse: Improper Disposal HIPAA rules state medical professionals must dispose of PHI in a secure manner. The hospital disciplined and retrained the employee who made the impermissible disclosure. Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B). OCR determined this fee to be unreasonable and that there had been a 15-month delay in providing the patient with the requested records. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance, but it took 16 months for the records to be provided. There are two key events to consider when looking at the timeline of penalties for HIPAA violations the passage of the HITECH Act in 2009 which reversed the burden of proof for HIPAA violations, and the HIPAA Omnibus Rule in 2013 which enacted the passage of the HITECH Act making business associates liable for HIPAA violations that were their fault. 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Therefore, it . OCR settled the case for $65,000. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the provider to develop and implement policies and procedures regarding appropriate administrative and physical safeguards related to the communication of PHI. OCR investigated and found the EHR company had been allowed access to ePHI without signing a business associate agreement and risk analysis and risk management failures. Case Examples Organized by Issue | HHS.gov A private practice denied an individual access to his records on the basis that a portion of the individual's record was created by a physician not associated with the practice. Covered Entity: General Hospital Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. MIE also settled a multi-state action with state attorneys general and paid a penalty of $900,000. By Jill McKeon. An organizations willingness to assist with an investigation is also taken into account. Read More, Mountlake Terrace, WA-based Premera Blue Cross is the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest. A patient alleged that a general hospital disclosed protected health information when a hospital staff person left a message on the patients home phone answering machine, thereby failing to accommodate the patients request that communications of PHI be made only through her mobile or work phones. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . The settlement stems from an impermissible disclosure in a press release issued by MHHS in September 2015. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Disciplinary Actions and Reinstatements - California The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. Read More, OCR agreed to settle multiple alleged HIPAA violations with Cottage Health for $3,000,000. Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain PDF HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts Read more, Ridgewood, NJ-based Village Plastic Surgeryfailed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . Read More. In order to resolve this matter to OCRs satisfaction and to prevent a recurrence, the covered entity: terminated the nurse practitioners access to its electronic records system; reported the nurse practitioners conduct to the appropriate licensing authority; and, provided the nurse practitioner with remedial Privacy Rule training. Memphis healthcare workers charged with HIPPA violations The case was settled for $5,100,000. Now add up that time for a week, a month, or even a year. Among other corrective action taken to resolve this issue, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her records. The case was settled for $850,000. Read More, Steven A. Porter, M.D.s gastroenterological practice in Ogden, UT reported a breach to OCR involving a medical record company that was blocking access to patients ePHI until a bill was paid. OCR settled the case for $20,000. OCR settled the case for $3,500. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon to resolve the violation. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced a new HIPAA settlement to resolve violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the health insurer to train its staff on the applicable policies and procedures and to mitigate the harm to the individual. Read more, Denver Retina Center, a Denver, CO-based provider of ophthalmological services, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. OCR received a complaint from a patient alleging BILHBS had not provided a copy of her fathers medical records. North Memorial has agreed to pay $1,550,000 to OCR to settle the HIPAA violation charges. Here are the top five misconceptions about FERPA and HIPAA that I regularly address in my work with schools. 0:57. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations Covered Entity: Private Practice The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") improperly provided her records to her auto insurance company and refused to provide her with a copy of her medical records. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. Covered Entity: Health Plans HIPAA Journal's goal is to assist HIPAA-covered entities achieve and maintain compliance with state and federal regulations governing the use, storage and disclosure of PHI and PII. Among other steps to resolve the specific issue in this case, OCR required the private practice to revise its access policy and procedures to affirm that, consistent with the Privacy Rule standards, patients have access to their record regardless of whether another entity created information contained within it. Read More, Lifespan Health System Affiliated Covered Entity is a Rhode Island healthcare provider. Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. An OCR investigation also indicated that the confidential communications requirements were not followed, as the employee left the message at the patients home telephone number, despite the patients instructions to contact her through her work number. The first bar in the group of three per year represents the complaints closed in which there was no violation, the second in which there was corrective action, and the third reflects the total closures. A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. The minimum fine is $100 per violation (up to $50,000) for Category 1 violations. HIPAA Breach Cases 2020 - ComplianceJunction Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers