What Should Happen If a Nurse Violates HIPAA? Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. Another potential HIPAA violation that's easily overlooked is discussing information over the phone. The nonprofit teaching hospital has also agreed to adopt the OCRs corrective action plan to address HIPAA-compliance issues discovered by OCR investigators. What Is a HIPAA Violation? | Berxi Department of Justice is the authority that handles all the breach fines and charges for violating HIPAA regulations. The maximum penalty for a single breach is $1.5 million per year. . Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations. Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records Regardless of Payment Source All Case Examples. OCR received a complaint from a patient who had not been provided with a copy of his medical records. New York and Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University (CU) will jointly pay a penalty of $4,800,000. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle the case without admission of liability. A radiology practice that interpreted a hospital patients imaging tests submitted a workers compensation claim to the patients employer. The case was settled with OCR and a 23,000 financial penalty was imposed. The settlement resolves HIPAA violations that contributed to the university experiencing a malware infection in 2013. After treating a patient injured in a rather unusual sporting accident, the hospital released to the local media, without the patients authorization, copies of the patients skull x-ray as well as a description of the complainants medical condition. This usually happens when a celebrity checks into the hospital, but that's not always the case. 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. The investigation confirmed there had been a HIPAA Right of Access failure. 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B). Five Memphis healthcare workers charged with conspiracy, HIPAA violations. OCR provided technical assistance to the covered entity regarding the requirement that covered entities seeking to disclose PHI for research recruitment purposes must obtain either a valid patient authorization or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or privacy-board-approved alteration to or waiver of authorization. To resolve this matter to the satisfaction of OCR, the hospital: retrained an entire Department with regard to the requirements of the Privacy Rule; provided additional specific training to staff members whose job duties included leaving messages for patients; and, revised the Departments patient privacy policy to clarify patient rights to accommodation of reasonable requests to receive communications of PHI by alternative means or at alternative locations. OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Read More, CHSPSC LLC isa Tennessee-based management companythat provides services to affiliates of Community Health Systems. The. Read More, OCR imposed a $2.154 million civil monetary penalty against the Miami, FL-based nonprofit academic medical system, Jackson Health System (JHS), for a slew of violations of HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Breach Notification Rule. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. Therefore you should assess employees security awareness as part of a risk analysis to see if more training is required. 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. > For Professionals The Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit health system, Banner Health, experienced a hacking incident that resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the PHI of 2.81 million individuals in 2016. Read More, Skagit County, Washington is paying the price for failing to implement the appropriate controls and safeguards to protect the data it held. Pharmacy Chain Institutes New Safeguards for PHI in Pseudoephedrine Log Books 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. Among other actions taken to satisfactorily resolve this matter, the hospital took further disciplinary action with the nurse, which included: documenting the employee record with a memo of the incident; one year probation; referral for peer review; and further training on HIPAA Privacy. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged AIMS refused to give her a copy of her medical records. The table above will be updated when the new penalty amounts for 2023 are finalized by the HHS. Case Examples by Issue. OCR settled the case for $3,500. 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. Between 2005 and 2019, healthcare data breaches affected nearly 250 million people. 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. 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 . 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. The infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. Alternatively, financial penalties can be imposed if a breach of ePHI violates state laws. Covered Entity: Private Practice OCR determined there had been a failure to protect patient information which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 2,150 patient records. An employee at a mid-size clinic was involved in a suit when an auto collision victim sued her spouse. Allergy Associates of Hartford paid OCR $125,000 to settle the alleged HIPAA violations. This is the second-largest settlement amount agreed with OCR. Read More, The HHS has announced that Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to settle a case with the Office for Civil Rights over alleged HIPAA violations following a data breach that occurred in October 2011. Disciplinary actions are part of the public record. Boston Medical Center agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $100,000. Covered Entity: Health Plans 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. Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Content last reviewed December 23, 2022. OCR stepped up enforcement of compliance with the HIPAA Rules in 2016, more than doubling the number of financial penalties. HIPAA Violations: 4 Common on Social Media Platforms - 99MGMT The records were provided on September 14, 2020. The maximum financial penalty, for willful neglect of the HIPAA Rules, is $1.5 million, per violation category, per year. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. Read More, Washington, NC-based Metropolitan Community Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center. This discrepancy is expected to be addressed through further rulemaking to make the new penalty structure permanent. Covered Entity: Mental Health Center 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. 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. 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. 0:57. The case was settled for $2.175 million. Read More, Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, P.A., of North Carolina over alleged violations of HIPAA Rules. The data breach exposed the Protected Health Information of 55,000 patients. 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. OCR settled the case for $50,000. Read More, Puerto Rico Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee Triple S Management Corporation has agreed to pay a HIPAA violation fine of $3.5 million to the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' ability to evaluate ethical violations to hypothetical case studies involving social media use. 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. The disclosed information included details of patients visits, treatment, and insurance. North Memorial has agreed to pay $1,550,000 to OCR to settle the HIPAA violation charges. The Board can report disciplinary actions to other agencies that oversee nursing licenses. What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA? - HIPAA Guide A nurse working at a clinic in New York became one of many HIPAA violation examples when her sister-in-law's boyfriend was diagnosed with an STD (sexually transmitted disease). 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. Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena An employee's medical record is protected by the Privacy Rule, even though employment records held by a covered entity in its role as employer are not. Initially, the pharmacy chain refused to acknowledge that the log books contained protected health information. 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. Case Examples Organized by Issue | HHS.gov The privacy breaches occurred shortly after each other in 2013. 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. Washington, D.C. 20201 Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has agreed to a $650,000 settlement with University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). 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. After being notified by OCR about a proposed fine of $105,000, Dr. Brockley requested a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge, but settled out of court and agreed to a fine of $30,000. Here are the top five misconceptions about FERPA and HIPAA that I regularly address in my work with schools. According to the Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 112, Section 77, the Board must report disciplinary actions to national data reporting systems. OCR investigated Peachstate and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. Although the Center gave the complainant the opportunity to review her medical record, this did not negate the Centers obligation to provide the complainant with a copy of her records. Talking about a patient in a public area where others can hear you is a HIPAA violation. An ABC crew was permitted to film inside NYP facilities for the show NY Med featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz. But violations are also quite serious. A covered entitys obligation to comply with all requirements of the Privacy Rule cannot be conditioned on the patients silence. Read More, MelroseWakefield Healthcare in Massachusetts received a valid request from a personal representative of a patient on June 12, 2020, but it took until October 20, 2020, for the requested records to be provided due to an error regarding the legality of the durable power of attorney. Issue: Notice. Case Examples. Issue: Access. Read More, OCR launched an investigation into the Carroll County, GA ambulance company, West Georgia Ambulance, after being notified about the loss of an unencrypted laptop computer that contained the PHI of 500 patients. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged he had been denied access to his medical records. 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. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider Read More, Boston Medical Center 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. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a year later alleging the records had still not been provided. The case was settled for $15,000. 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. Covered Entity: Private Practices Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. In the first half of 2018, more than 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents. Corinne S Kennedy. Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. OCRs investigation revealed periodic technical and non-technical evaluations of operational changes affecting the security of their electronic PHI had not been performed, procedures had not been implemented to verify the identity of individuals accessing their ePHI, there was a lack of ePHI safeguards, and Aetna had violated the minimum necessary standard. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services OCR determined this violated the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Read More, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. 6) Keep Thoughts to Yourself. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state privacy laws. OCR intervened but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. 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 OCR investigated and found multiple violations of the HIPAA Rules including a delayed response to a known security breach, risk analysis and risk management failures, and a lack of procedures to monitor information system activity logs. The data breach investigation revealed a substandard security management process and a catalog of HIPAA Security Rule violations. This was OCRs first settlement under the 2019 HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative. OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, a letter of reprimand was placed in the supervisor's personnel file and the supervisor received additional training about the Privacy Rule. Read More, Great Expressions Dental Center of Georgia, P.C. OCR determined the lack of encryption was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule, there were insufficient device and media controls, and a business associate agreement had not been entered into with its parent company. Read More, WellPoint is one of the largest providers of Affiliated Health Plans, with almost 36 million policyholders across the United States. The case was settled for $65,000. 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. HIPAA violations don't just occur when a nurse posts something of their own accord. Read More, Lifespan Health System Affiliated Covered Entity is a Rhode Island healthcare provider. Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records The impermissible disclosures of PHI resulted in a $10,000 settlement. Private Practice Provides Access to All Records, Regardless of Source Memorial Hermann Health System has agreed to pay OCR $2,400,000. Covered Entity: Private Practices Covered Entity: Multi-Hospital Healthcare Provider PDF HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts 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. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $4,348,000. The case was settled for $1,040,000. St. Joseph Health has agreed to pay OCR $2,140,500. OCR intervened and the records were provided 8 months after the initial request. OCR's investigation determined that a flaw in the health plan's computer system put the protected health information of approximately 2,000 families at risk of disclosure in violation of the 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. Texas Nurse Fired for Social Media HIPAA Violation - HIPAA Journal Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm 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. Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms The possibility of HIPAA lawsuits brought forth by patients and breach victims could change HIPAA enforcement. Sentara Hospitals reported the breach to OCR as having impacted 8 individuals. Read more, The owner of the Fairhope, AL, dental practice impermissibly disclosed patients PHI to a campaign manager and a third-party marketing company in relation to a state senate election campaign. Common HIPAA Violations with Examples | Inspired eLearning HIPAA Violations by Nurses The case was settled for $38,000. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. The Center did not, however, provide the complainant with the opportunity to have the denial reviewed, as required by the Privacy Rule. It took 564 days from the initial request for all of the records to be provided to the patient. Employees were trained to provide only the minimum necessary information in messages, and were given specific direction as to what information could be left in a message. Covered Entity: General Hospital Read More, OCR investigated a complaint about an impermissible disclosure of a patients PHI to a reporter. 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. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. Covered Entity: General Hospital 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. TTD Number: 1-800-537-7697, Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, has sub items, about Compliance & Enforcement, has sub items, about Covered Entities & Business Associates, Other Administrative Simplification Rules. QCA Health Plan has agreed to settle the HIPAA violations with OCR for $250,000. When dealing with these complex issues, you need legal representation that has a long track record of success in these types of cases. The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Covered Entity: Private Practice Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) imposed a $1.6 million civil monetary penalty (CMP) on Texas Health and Human Services Commission (TX HHSC) for multiple violations of HIPAA Rules discovered during the investigation of an exposed internal application containing ePHI. They split the fines and charges into two categories: reasonable cause and willful neglect. The case was settled for $1,500,000. 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. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. Termination for Nurse HIPAA Violation Upheld by Court Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial A physician practice requested that patients sign an agreement entitled Consent and Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy. The agreement prohibited the patient from directly or indirectly publishing or airing commentary about the physician, his expertise, and/or treatment in exchange for the physicians compliance with the Privacy Rule. Paige. Read More. Covered Entity: Health Plans / HMOs A good example of this is a laptop that is stolen. 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. Moreover, the entity was required to train of all staff on the revised policy. OCR attempted to resolve the matter via informal means between November 6, 2015, to August 30, 2016, before issuing a Notice of Proposed Determination on September 30, 2016. Case Examples by Covered Entity. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Read More, Memorial Hermann Health System agreed to settle potential HIPAA Privacy Rule violations with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for $2.4 million. A was charged with violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and with "conspiracy to wrongfully disclose individual health information for personal gain with maliciously harmful intent in a personal dispute." Her husband was charged with witness tampering. Read More, Athens Orthopedic Clinic PA in Georgia had its systems hacked in 2016. In April, nurses on the night shift at Denver Health Medical Center were caught making inappropriate comments about a male patient's genitalia, according to a report from the Colorado Department. The claim included the patients test results. OCR settled the case for $240,000. Read More, Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services (BILHBS) is the largest provider of mental health and substance use disorder services in eastern Massachusetts. Delaware Co. June 5, 2012). Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses - HIPAA Coach The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. There are four different HIPAA violation classifications which rank the level of an organizations willful neglect, and four penalty tiers depending on factors such as the length of time a violation was allowed to continue after being discovered, the number of people affected by the violation, and the nature of data exposed. Social Media Posts Could Have Consequences for Your Career Taking this into account, the figures OCR is working with are detailed in the table below and will apply indefinitely, until the next increase to account for inflation. The case was settled for $5,100,000. In fact, even a competent healthcare facility will experience minor HIPAA violation cases at some point. Read more, Dr. Robert Glaser, a New Hyde Park, NY-based cardiovascular disease and internal medicine doctor, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records after repeated requests. A digital photocopier was returned to a leasing company, but the PHI stored on its hard drive had not been erased before the device was returned. OCR investigated the allegation and found no evidence that the law firm had impermissibly disclosed the customers PHI. Read More, The Californian general dental practice, New Vision Dental, was investigated by OCR following reports about impermissible disclosures of patients protected health information on the review platform Yelp.
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