Without a properly executed agreement, a covered entity may not disclose PHI to its law firm. An ABC crew was permitted to film inside NYP facilities for the show NY Med featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz. Read More, Parkview Healthcare System has agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement for a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Further, the covered entity counseled the supervisor about appropriate use of the medical information of a subordinate. Among the corrective actions required to resolve this case, OCR required the insurer to correct the flaw in its computer system, review all transactions for a six month period and correct all corrupted patient information. When you're discussing a patient's information on the phone, you need to be in a private place where others can't hear you. OCR provided technical assistance but received another complaint from the same patient that the records had still not been provided. The OCR investigation revealed a lack of business associate agreements, insufficient access rights, a risk analysis failure, a failure to respond to a security incident, a breach notification failure, media notification failure. 6) Keep Thoughts to Yourself. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. That's almost an hour devoted to talking about someone else. Read more, OCR investigated a breach reported by the Department of Veteran Affairs involving a business associate, Authentidate Holding Corporation. Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. The settlement for HIPAA violations was reached with SEMC for violations that lead to a document sharing system data breach that exposed 498 records, and a data breach involving the theft of a flash drive containing unencrypted data of 595 patients. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Resolution Agreements. OCR settled the case for $55,000. OCR investigated Peachstate and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. Read More, Coastal Ear, Nose, and Throat in Florida received a request from a patient for a copy of medical records on December 15, 2020, and again on January 8, 2021, but the records were not provided until May 20, 2021. The nurse received the board notice for a hearing and the allegations against her, which involved breaching her duty to protect the patients' confidentiality and privacy rights in violation of the state's nurse practice act and administrative rules. Cancel Any Time. OCR confirmed that PHI had been disclosed without an authorization from the patient and that there had been no sanctions against the physician responsible, despite being warned in advance not to disclose any PHI. The case was settled for $100,000. Another way to prevent HIPAA violations on social media is to get proper compliance training for your staff. In some severe cases, yes, nurses can lose their jobs if they violate HIPAA. Further, the covered entity's Privacy Officer and other representatives met with the patient and apologized, and followed the meeting with a written apology. Triple S was also required to pay a HIPAA violation penalty of $6.8 million to the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration for a failure to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acts Privacy Rule last year, although the HIPAA violation fine was reduced to $1.5 million on appeal. 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 settled the case for $5,000. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $4,348,000. Covered Entity: Pharmacies OCR investigated the allegation and found no evidence that the law firm had impermissibly disclosed the customers PHI. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure; Confidential Communications. Read More, OCR investigated a complaint about an impermissible disclosure of a patients PHI to a reporter. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance, but it took 16 months for the records to be provided. The above penalties were implemented as demanded by the HITECH Act of 2009 and increase annually in line with inflation. . OCR determined that there had been an impermissible disclosure of 34,883 patients ePHI due to a lack of encryption. The Privacy Rule requires covered entities to provide individuals with access to their medical records; however, the Privacy Rule exempts psychotherapy notes from this requirement. OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared The practice trained all staff on the newly developed policies and procedures. Educators worry about the confidentiality of all student information, particularly the data relied upon in developing and implementing IEPs and Section 504 plans, often on account of "HIPAA . A staff member of a medical practice discussed HIV testing procedures with a patient in the waiting room, thereby disclosing PHI to several other individuals. In many cases, records were only provided after OCR intervened. The new procedures were incorporated into the standard staff privacy training, both as part of a refresher series and mandatory yearly compliance training. Covered Entity: General Hospital Covered Entity: Private Practice OCR's investigation determined that the private practice had relied on state regulations that permit a covered entity to provide a summary of the record. Violations related to HIPAA laws have serious consequences, including job loss and other penalties. 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. Read More, Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation in Massachusetts received a request from a parent for her sons medical records onMarch 22, 2020, but the records were not provided until October 10, 2020. Read More, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences experienced a hacking incident that was reported to OCR in January 2018. In April 2019, OCR reexamined the HITECH Act and determined the language had been misinterpreted and issued a Notice of Enforcement Discretion stating the maximum annual penalties in each penalty tier would be changed to reflect the seriousness of the violations. Pharmacy Chain Institutes New Safeguards for PHI in Pseudoephedrine Log Books Covered Entity: Pharmacies 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. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state laws. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. While the Privacy Rule may permit the disclosure of an OR schedule containing PHI, in this case, a hospital employee shared the OR scheduled with the complainants supervisor, who was not part of the employee's treatment team, and did not need the information for payment, health care operations, or other permissible purposes. Read More, Skagit County, Washington is paying the price for failing to implement the appropriate controls and safeguards to protect the data it held. An Accusation is a legal document formally charging a registered nurse with a violation (s) of the Nursing Practice Act, and notifying the public that a disciplinary action is pending against that nurse. The infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. An employee of a major health insurer impermissibly disclosed the protected health information of one of its members without following the insurer's authorization and verification procedures. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and there was no HIPAA privacy officer. 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. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced yesterday that the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations and will pay a financial penalty of $2.75 million. A Georgia man has been sentenced to federal prison in an unusual case in which he portrayed himself as a whistleblower while falsely reporting to authorities that a hospital worker committed criminal HIPAA violations. Read More, Mountlake Terrace, WA-based Premera Blue Cross is the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest. Covered Entity: Private Practices Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the pharmacy revised its policies regarding PHI and retrained its staff. Even though it is not done maliciously. Covered Entity: Private Practice Read More, Fallbrook Family Health Center in Nebraska failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. A settlement of $500,000 was agreed upon to resolve the alleged HIPAA violations. Read More, A patient of Elite Dental Associates submitted a complaint to OCR stating her PHI had been disclosed by Elite Dental Associates in response to a review on Yelp. And when data breaches like this occur, it's usually because of a HIPAA violation. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility 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. OCR also determined there had been a risk analysis failure, a failure to implement Privacy Rule policies, and unique IDs had not been provided to all employees to track information system activity. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance on the HIPAA Right of Access but received a second complaint when the practice continued to deny him access. 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. Nope. Read More, Lifespan Health System Affiliated Covered Entity is a Rhode Island healthcare provider. Read More, Cancer Care Group, an Indiana-based radiation oncology private physician practice, has agreed to settle with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for $750,000, for potential HIPAA violations relating to a 2012 data breach. The directory contained files that included the protected health information (PHI) of 307,839 individuals. Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. Breach News In addition, OCR required the practice to reposition its computer monitors to prevent patients from viewing information on the screens, and the practice installed computer monitor privacy screens to prevent impermissible disclosures. Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. OCRs investigation revealed that: the hospital distributed an Operating Room (OR) schedule to employees via email; the hospitals OR schedule contained information about the complainants upcoming surgery. In fact, even a competent healthcare facility will experience minor HIPAA violation cases at some point. Also, computer screens displaying patient information were easily visible to patients. 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 Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the hospital to develop and implement a policy regarding disclosures related to serious threats to health and safety, and to train all members of the hospital staff on the new policy. The maximum penalty for a single breach is $1.5 million per year. Settlements have previously been agreed upon with healthcare providers, health plans, and business associates of covered entities, but this is the first time OCR has settled potential HIPAA violations with a wireless health services provider. Read More, Paradise Family Dental was investigated in response to a complaint that a parent had not been provided with a copy of her minor childs medical records, despite submitting multiple requests to the practice. In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $65,000. The trial court noted that HIPAA does not create a private right of action, but instead requires that violations be pursued via administrative channels (ie: by filing a complaint with HHS). 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. 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. Issue: Minimum Necessary; Confidential Communications. The following three years saw similar numbers of financial penalties; however, there was another major increase in HIPAA fines in 2020 when 19 HIPAA violation cases were settled with OCR. Honolulu-based Hawaii Pacific Health fired an employee in March after discovering the employee had inappropriately accessed patient medical records between November 2014 and January 2020. > HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement Read More, Housing Works, Inc. is a New York City-based non-profit healthcare organization that provides healthcare, homeless services, and legal aid support for people affected by HIV/AIDS. 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 corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the HMO created a new HIPAA-compliant authorization form and implemented a new policy that directs staff to obtain patient signatures on these forms before responding to any disclosure requests, even if patients bring in their own authorization form. The case was settled for $850,000. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. In the first half of 2018, more than 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $10,000. OCR settled the case for $65,000. 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. was investigated by OCR in response to a complaint from a patient that she would be charged a fee of $170 for her medical records. This case study involving one nursing education program's experience with a HIPAA violation illustrates how one nursing college dealt with a student's HIPAA . The case was settled for $38,000. While the amendment provisions of the Privacy Rule permit a covered entity to deny an individual's request for an amendment when the covered entity did not create that the portion of the record subject to the request for amendment, no similar provision limits individuals' rights to access their protected health information. Covered Entity: General Hospital Covered Entity: Health Plans In 2014, hackers accessed its systems and stole the ePHI of 6,121,158 individuals. 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. 3 Examples of HIPAA Violation Cases Example #1: When it comes to HIPAA, curiosity can kill the cat or your career. The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). A doctor's office disclosed a patient's HIV status when the office mistakenly faxed medical records to the patient's place of employment instead of to the patient's new health care provider. OCR required the covered entity to cease using the patient agreement that conditioned the entitys compliance with the Privacy Rule. To resolve this matter, OCR also required the practice to revise its policies and operating procedures and to move medical alert stickers to the inside cover of the records. "HIPAA applies to schools.". Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has announced it has settled potential HIPAA violations with Feinstein Institute for Medical Research for $3.9 million. Further information on the penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here. The hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new procedures. 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. Read More. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. In addition, OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, a risk management failure, and a lack of device media controls. The default security settings were left in place, which allowed any individual with an Internet connection to gain access to the ePHI in the files. Five Memphis healthcare workers charged with conspiracy, HIPAA violations. Read More, Brigham and Womens 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. Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. The case was settled for $202,400. Issue: Access. OCR investigated and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Rules: A risk analysis failure, risk management failure, lack of information system activity reviews, and insufficient technical policies to prevent unauthorized ePHI access. Read More, OCR launched an investigation of University of Rochester Medical Center following receipt of two breach reports concerning lost/stolen portable devices containing ePHI a flash drive and a laptop computer. In nursing education, a HIPAA violation made by a nursing student could result in a variety of disciplinary actions including termination but is rarely discussed in nursing literature. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has announced that Childrens Medical Center of Dallas has paid a civil monetary penalty of $3.2 million to resolve multiple HIPAA violations spanning several years. Among other corrective action taken to resolve this issue, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her records. On September 29, 2011, a portable USB storage device (pen drive) was left overnight in the IT Department from where it was stolen. Large Health System Restricts Provider's Use of Patient Records Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena 4 . There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state privacy laws. Allergy Associates of Hartford paid OCR $125,000 to settle the alleged HIPAA violations. OCR settled the case for $240,000. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure and the case was settled for $100,000. The cost of employer HIPAA violations in the supreme court ranges from $100 to $50,000 based on a variety of factors, including: Whether or not there was malicious intent (civil vs. criminal penalties) The degree of negligence If a doctor violates HIPAA, including inadvertent disclosure If a breach occurred The Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has revealed a $65,000 HIPAA violation settlement has been agreed with West Georgia Ambulance, Inc., to address multiple breaches of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Rules. The case was settled for $6,850,000. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Nurse Faced with Jail Time for Violating HIPAA Laws Without appropriate HIPAA training, this case of a HIPAA violation demonstrates how critical it is to train workers before there is an issue. A good example of this is a laptop that is stolen. One of the most common HIPAA violations is a result of lost company devices. OCR's investigation confirmed that the use and disclosure of protected health information by the supervisor was not authorized by the employee and was not otherwise permitted by the Privacy Rule. 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. 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, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced a new HIPAA settlement to resolve violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. An OCR investigation indicated that the form the HMO relied on to make the disclosure was not a valid authorization under the Privacy Rule. 0:04. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider The OCR investigation determined 577 patients had been affected, but Sentara Hospitals refused to update its breach notice to reflect the correct number of patients affected. Corinne S Kennedy. Read More, Life Hope Labs, LLC, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, failed to provide an individual with the medical records of her deceased father in a timely manner. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications 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. Health Plan Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI through Training, Mitigation, and Sanctions Read More, CHSPSC LLC isa Tennessee-based management companythat provides services to affiliates of Community Health Systems. PHI had been intentionally provided to the media on three separate occasions. The 2020 increase is largely due to OCRs HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative, which was launched in late 2019. For one violation, fines can range from $100-$50,000 for each instance of wrongdoing. OCR settled the case for $20,000. HITECH News A private practice physician who was the principal investigator of a clinical research study disclosed a list of patients and diagnostic codes to a contract research organization to telephone patients for recruitment purposes. Providence Health & Services. The case was settled for $3 million. Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. Physician Revises Faxing Procedures to Safeguard PHI Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, including mitigation of harm to the complainant, OCR required the Center to revise its procedures regarding patient authorization prior to release of protected health information to an employer. Read More, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg was investigated following receipt of a complaint from a patient on August 14, 2018. A violation due to willful neglect which is not corrected within thirty days will attract the maximum fine of $50,000. Issue: Access. 3. Read More, Danbury Psychiatric Consultants in Massachusetts received a request for medical records on March 24, 2020, but access to the records was refused due to an outstanding bill. The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. Background: Inappropriate use of social media necessitates health institutes, academic institutes, nurses and educators to consider occupational ethical principles while creating a policy and guide on the usage of social media. However, as violations of HIPAA are so severe, then CEs will choose to terminate the . In 2015, Premera discovered there had been a breach of the ePHI of 10,466,692 individuals. OCR investigated and found multiple potential HIPAA violations such as the failure to conduct a thorough risk analysis, risk management failures, and insufficient mechanisms to identify suspicious network activity. Read More, Orlando, FL-based primary care provider, Health Specialists of Central Florida Inc., was investigated by OCR after receipt of a complaint from a woman who had not been provided with a copy of her deceased fathers medical records. However, the investigation revealed that the pharmacy chain and the law firm had not entered into a Business Associate Agreement, as required by the Privacy Rule to ensure that PHI is appropriately safeguarded. 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. Read more, Ridgewood, NJ-based Village Plastic Surgeryfailed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. At minimum, the nurse who violated HIPAA will probably have to go on a training course to prevent further violations. If a nurse violates HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse for a HIPAA violation. Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. All rights reserved. Issue: Safeguards. Covered Entity: General Hospitals The data breach exposed the Protected Health Information of 55,000 patients. Massachusetts General Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $515,000. CNE is required to pay a financial penalty of $400,000 and must adopt a comprehensive Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to address various areas of HIPAA non-compliance. To sign up for updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please enter your contact information below. Fines for "reasonable cause" violations range from $100 to $50,000. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle the case without admission of liability. Violating HIPAA law can result in fines, job termination, loss of licensure, and criminal charges. Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. The Center did not, however, provide the complainant with the opportunity to have the denial reviewed, as required by the Privacy Rule. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violation. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. The device was not password-protected, and the personal information of over 20,000 patients wasn't encrypted. ACMHS has agreed to settle the case with OCR for $150,000. Sentara Hospitals reported the breach to OCR as having impacted 8 individuals. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' ability to evaluate ethical violations to hypothetical case studies involving social media use. OCR discovered a risk analysis failure, the lack of a security awareness training program, and a failure to implement HIPAA Security Rule policies and procedures. OCR issued a written analysis and a demand for compliance. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality.