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. The case was settled for $2.175 million. 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. 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. HIPAA calls for civil fines up to $25,000 per violation to be paid by the employer, and criminal fines up to $250,000 to be paid by the employer and/or the individual. Read More, For only the second time in its history, OCR has ordered a HIPAA-covered entity to pay civil monetary penalties for HIPAA violations. The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. Initially, the pharmacy chain refused to acknowledge that the log books contained protected health information. }); Show Your Employer You Have Completed The Best HIPAA Compliance Training Available With ComplianceJunctions Certificate Of Completion, Learn about the top 10 HIPAA violations and the best way to prevent them, Avoid HIPAA violations due to misuse of social media, Losses to Phishing Attacks Increased by 76% in 2022, Biden Administration Announces New National Cybersecurity Strategy, Settlement Reached in Preferred Home Care Data Breach Lawsuit, BetterHelp Settlement Agreed with FTC to Resolve Health Data Privacy Violations, Amazon Completes Acquisition of OneMedical Amid Concern About Uses of Patient Data, Willful neglect (not corrected within 30 days. 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. In some severe cases, yes, nurses can lose their jobs if they violate HIPAA. Covered Entity: General Hospitals The doctor was retiring and received a delivery of 71 boxes of medical files containing up to 8,000 patient records; however, the delivery was made, and the boxes were left on the doctors driveway while he was out of the house. OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. A grocery store based pharmacy chain maintained pseudoephedrine log books containing protected health information in a manner so that individual protected health information was visible to the public at the pharmacy counter. Covered Entity: Mental Health Center An employee at a mid-size clinic was involved in a suit when an auto collision victim sued her spouse. OCR settled the case for $55,000. Since then, OCR has been cracking down on entities that have failed to provide individuals with timely access to their medical records. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure-Research. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers 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. However, up to 500 cases per year result in a fine and/or corrective action being required. OCR determined that the private practice denied the individual access to records to which she was entitled by the Privacy Rule. 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. A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. Read More. Read More, Fallbrook Family Health Center in Nebraska failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. State Hospital Sanctions Employees for Disclosing Patient's PHI The new procedures were instituted in Medicaid offices and independent health care programs under the jurisdiction of the municipal social service agency. Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. Hospital Revises Email Distribution as a Result of a Disclosure to Persons Without a "Need to Know" The new procedures were incorporated into the standard staff privacy training, both as part of a refresher series and mandatory yearly compliance training. 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. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle the case without admission of liability. 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. North Memorial has agreed to pay $1,550,000 to OCR to settle the HIPAA violation charges. Some cases also can result in imprisonment up to one year for a standard violation and imprisonment for up to five years for a violation committed under false pretenses. OCR determined there had been a failure to protect patient information which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 2,150 patient records. Penalties for "willful neglect" violations can range from . When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. UMMC has also agreed to adopt a corrective action plan (CAP) to bring privacy and security standards up to the level required by HIPAA. "HIPAA applies to schools.". Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") refused to provide her with a copy of her medical record, including psychotherapy notes. The case was settled for $6,850,000. Lincare Inc. is required to pay $239,800 for violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule which were discovered during the investigation of a complaint about a breach of 278 patient records. 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 Diabetes, Endocrinology & Lipidology Center, Inc, a West Virginia-based healthcare provider specializing in treating endocrine disorders, failed to provide a parent with a copy of her minor childs protected health information within 30 days. In some states, the amount of punitive damages awarded could far outweigh the maximum $1.5 million fine (per violation) that can be imposed by OCR. OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, insufficient reviews of system activity, a failure to respond adequately to a detected breach, and insufficient technical controls to prevent unauthorized ePHI access. OCR also determined that the Center denied the complainant's request for access because her therapists believed providing the records to her would likely cause her substantial harm. 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 2020 increase is largely due to OCRs HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative, which was launched in late 2019. The nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. 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. The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. The local newspaper then featured on its front page the individuals x-ray and an article that included the date of the accident, the location of the accident, the patients gender, a description of patients medical condition, and numerous quotes from the hospital about such unusual sporting accidents. 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. Among other corrective action taken, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her medical record and revised its policies and procedures to ensure that it provides timely access to all individuals. A mother requested a copy of her sons medical records, but the records had not been provided three months after submitting the request. Read More, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. Covered Entity: Health Plans 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 patient had requested a copy of her childs fetal heart monitor records, but 9 months after the request had been submitted the records still had not been provided. 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. Read More, Lawrence Bell, Jr. D.D.S in Maryland failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. To resolve the matter, OCR required the pharmacy chain and the law firm to enter into a business associate agreement. OCR also found the Notice of Privacy Practices to be inadequate. The data breach investigation revealed a substandard security management process and a catalog of HIPAA Security Rule violations. The case was settled for $65,000. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required that the social service agency develop procedures for properly disclosing protected health information only to its valid business associates and to train its staff on the new processes. In addition to corrective action taken under the Privacy Rule, the state attorney general's office entered into a monetary settlement agreement with the patient. A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. In addition, the covered entity forwarded the complainant a complete copy of the medical record. Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . 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. The disclosed information included details of patients visits, treatment, and insurance. On September 29, 2011, a portable USB storage device (pen drive) was left overnight in the IT Department from where it was stolen. The records were provided within days of OCR intervening. Mental Health Center Provides Access and Revises Policies and Procedures The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. Therefore, it . Covered Entity: Mental Health Center So-mogye v. Toledo Clinic, 2012 WL 2191279 (N.D. Ohio, June 14, 2012). A complainant alleged that a private practice physician denied her access to her medical records, because the complainant had an outstanding balance for services the physician had provided. Moreover, the entity was required to train of all staff on the revised policy. Read More, An OCR investigation into an impermissible disclosure of 9,255 individuals PHI by Advanced Care Hospitalists, a business associate of a HIPAA-covered entity, revealed serious HIPAA compliance failures including a lack of a BAA, insufficient security measures to protect ePHI, and no documentation showing there had been any HIPAA compliance efforts prior to April 1, 2014. > HIPAA Home Below are details of 47 incidents since 2012 in which workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers shared photos or videos of residents on social media networks. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure. 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. 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 private practice failed to honor an individual's request for a complete copy of her minor son's medical record. Read More, Office for Civil Rights has issued a statement confirming that an agreement has been reached with Adult & Pediatric Dermatology, P.C., of Concord, Massachusetts following the accidental disclosure of approximately 2,200 patients after a memory stick was stolen from the car of one of the centers employees. Improper Disposal HIPAA rules state medical professionals must dispose of PHI in a secure manner. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. 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.