The four categories range from unknowing violations to willful disregard of HIPAA rules. Read More, The city of New Haven in Connecticut was investigated over an incident where a former employee accessed its systems after termination and copied a file containing the ePHI of 498 individuals. November 30, 2021 - New York-based Huntington Hospital began notifying 13,000 patients of a data breach that exposed protected health information (PHI) and resulted in a former . OCR stepped up enforcement of compliance with the HIPAA Rules in 2016, more than doubling the number of financial penalties. But violations are also quite serious. OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. Violations related to HIPAA laws have serious consequences, including job loss and other penalties. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. The incident for which the fine has been issued dates back to 2009 when a data security complaint was filed by a patient of one of its doctors. 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. The new authorization specifies what records and/or portions of the files will be disclosed and the respective authorization will be kept in the patients record, together with the disclosed information. OCR provided technical assistance but received another complaint from the same patient that the records had still not been provided. After OCR notified the entity of the allegation, the entity released the complainants medical records but also billed him $100.00 for a records review fee as well as an administrative fee. The case was settled for $10,000. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Hackers used a compromised username and password to gain access to a server that contained the protected health information (PHI) of 3.5 million individuals. The data breach was caused when a computer server firewall was deactivated by a physician at Columbia University leaving electronic PHI exposed and accessible via search engines. OCR settled the case for $55,000. Under the revised process, if a subpoena is received that does not meet the requirements of the Privacy Rule, the information is not disclosed; instead, the hospital contacts the party seeking the subpoena and the requirements of the Privacy Rule are explained. The case was settled for $1,040,000. The case was settled for $100,000. One addressed the issue of minimum necessary information in telephone message content. 4 . In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. OCR investigated the breach and discovered multiple violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider / General Hospital Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. The case was settled and a financial penalty of $28,000 was paid. Scott Harris and the rest of our team at S J Harris Law will be ready to help you pursue any option available that allows you to keep your license and continue working, no matter what industry you are in. District of Ohio dismissed her case. OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. 6) Keep Thoughts to Yourself. Issue: Impermissible Use and Disclosure. 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. Read More, OCR investigated three breaches involving the loss of a laptop computer and two unencrypted thumb drives containing patients PHI. Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. But it's vital. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Criminal HIPAA violations and penalties fall under three tiers: Tier 1: Deliberately obtaining and disclosing PHI without authorization up to one year in jail and a $50,000 fine Tier 2: Obtaining PHI under false pretenses up to five years in jail and a $100,000 fine An outpatient surgical facility disclosed a patient's protected health information (PHI) to a research entity for recruitment purposes without the patient's authorization or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or privacy-board-approved waiver of authorization. HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts, Termination Upheld. The firewall was inactive for a period of 10 months leaving the data exposed and potentially accessible to unauthorized third parties for an unacceptable period of time. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations. As a result of this review, the hospital revised the distribution of the OR schedule, limiting it to those who have a need to know., Private Practice Ceases Conditioning of Compliance with the Privacy Rule If a nurse violates HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse for a HIPAA violation. OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. November 16, 2022. State Hospital Sanctions Employees for Disclosing Patient's PHI The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required this chain to revise its national policy regarding law enforcement's access to patient protected health information to comply with the Privacy Rule requirements, including that disclosures of protected health information to law enforcement only be made in response to written requests from law enforcement officials, unless state law requires otherwise. OCR settled the case for $3,500. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a year later alleging the records had still not been provided. Read More, In March 2019, OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged she had not been provided with a copy of her medical records in the requested electronic format despite making repeated requests. In 2016, 12 entities agreed to settle their compliance investigations and pay a financial penalty, with one case seeing civil monetary penalties imposed. The hacker stole data, attempted to extort money, and leaked the ePHI of 208,557 patients online when payment was not received. The nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. Read More, Anchorage Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS) runs five mental health facilities in Alaska and is a non-profit organization. Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $65,000. The case was settled with OCR for $30,000. All Case Examples. The consequences of violating HIPAA can be significant and it is important to note fines for a HIPAA violation can be applied by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) even if no breach of PHI has occurred. OCR discovered risk analysis failures, risk management failures, a failure toconduct technical and non-technical evaluations following environmental or operational changes, and the disclosure of ePHI to a contractor without first entering into a business associate agreement. Read More, OCR investigated a complaint from a mother who requested a copy of her sons medical records from St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center but had not been provided with a complete set of the records. Read More, Lifespan Health System Affiliated Covered Entity is a Rhode Island healthcare provider. Read more, The dental practice with offices in Charlotte and Monroe, NC, impermissibly disclosed a patients PHI on a webpage in response to a negative online review. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. Read More, Massachusetts General Hospital was fined for allowing an ABC film crew to record footage of patients as part of the Boston Med TV series, without first obtaining consent from patients. A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality. The penalties for a HIPAA violation are determined by the CE; HIPAA itself does not explicitly state what types of HIPAA violations will and will not result in the loss of a job. OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The claim included the patients test results. The case was settled for $1,000,000. MIE also settled a multi-state action with state attorneys general and paid a penalty of $900,000. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. A public hospital, in response to a subpoena (not accompanied by a court order), impermissibly disclosed the protected health information (PHI) of one of its patients. The case was settled for $62,500. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers Read More, Following the report of the theft of a laptop from the Springfield Missouri Physical Therapy Center, Concentra Health Services was subjected to an investigation by the OCR. Read more, Wake Health Medical Group, a Raleigh, NC-based provider of primary care and other health care services, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. A chain pharmacy disclosed protected health information to municipal law enforcement officials in a manner that did not conform to the provisions of the Privacy Rule. Covered Entity: General Hospital The case was settled for $5,100,000. The practice trained all staff on the newly developed policies and procedures. A settlement of $1,700,000 has been agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations that contributed to the cause of the breach. Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial Memorial Healthcare Systems has paid the penalty for non-compliance with HIPAA Rules, and in addition to the $5.5 million settlement, a robust corrective action plan must be adopted to address all areas of non-compliance. Case Examples. The patient filed a complaint with OCR and the records were eventually provided more than 10 months later. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has sent another warning to HIPAA-covered entities about the need to obtain signed, HIPAA-compliant business associate agreements with all vendors prior to disclosing any protected health information. The case was contested, but an administrative law judge ruled in favor of OCR. OCR settled the case for $55,000. OCR required the covered entity to cease using the patient agreement that conditioned the entitys compliance with the Privacy Rule. Memorial Hermann Health System has agreed to pay OCR $2,400,000. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records The Paubox team exported all reported incidents from HHS's official Breach Portal from January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019 and used the data to compile the following summary. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. September 05, 2017 - A Kentucky hospital was found to have acted lawfully when it fired a nurse for committing a HIPAA violation, according to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Read More, Skagit County, Washington is paying the price for failing to implement the appropriate controls and safeguards to protect the data it held. The above penalties were implemented as demanded by the HITECH Act of 2009 and increase annually in line with inflation. Read More, An investigation of five separate breaches at HIPAA-covered entities owned by Fresenius Medical Care North America revealed multiple HIPAA violations had contributed to the breaches. A nurse in a New York clinic found herself at the center of an ugly HIPAA violation case when her sister-in-law's boyfriend was diagnosed with an STD. Alternatively, financial penalties can be imposed if a breach of ePHI violates state laws. In 2017, Lifespan mentioned in a news release that someone broke into an employee vehicle and stole their work laptop. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure, access control failure, information system activity monitoring failure, and an impermissible disclosure of 6,617 patients ePHI. Read More, Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas received five requests from a patient for complete records to be provided between June 2019 and January 2020. Serious violations, even if the intent is not malicious, are likely to result in disciplinary action. A radiology practice that interpreted a hospital patients imaging tests submitted a workers compensation claim to the patients employer. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. The employee responsible for the disclosure received a written disciplinary warning, and both the employee and the physician apologized to the patient. Read more, Renown Health, a not-for-profit healthcare network in Northern Nevada, failed to provide a patients attorney with a copy of her medical and billing records within 30 days. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 - $50,000. Covered Entity: General Hospital 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. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged he had been denied access to his medical records. If an organization fails to take corrective action after having been issued a fine, the HHS Office of Civil Rights can impose subsequent fines. Presence Health took three months to issue breach notifications when the Breach Notification Rule requires notifications to be sent within 60 days of the discovery of a breach. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. The. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. Case Examples by Covered Entity. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. Other than stipulating training should be provided as necessary and appropriate for members of the workforce to carry out their functions (HIPAA Privacy Rule) and that CEs and BAs should implement a security awareness and training program for all members of the workforce (HIPAA Security Rule), there are no specific HIPAA training requirements.
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