All staff was trained on the revised procedures. OCR investigated the breach and discovered multiple violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. 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, 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. Issue: Safeguards. Further, the covered entity's Privacy Officer and other representatives met with the patient and apologized, and followed the meeting with a written apology. The financial penalties imposed by OCR in 2020 for HIPAA Right of Access violations ranged from $15,000 to $160,000 and stemmed from refusals to provide copies of records or long delays. The nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm renewals of licenses or APRN authorizations, or both. 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. Comments and replies to someone else's post, chat room gossip (even if it's a private room) or leaving a review on a site like Yelp opens the door for potential HIPAA violations. If an offense is committed under false pretenses, the criminal penalties increase to a maximum . . Issue: Access. The maximum penalty for a single breach is $1.5 million per year. 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. 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. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . 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, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has agreed to settle a case with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights stemming from two data breaches experienced in 2013. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. A Nurse's Guide to the Use of Social Media discusses the case of a hospice nurse whose cancer patient had posted about her depression. A settlement of $500,000 was agreed upon to resolve the alleged HIPAA violations. 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. The case was settled for $70,000. 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. Data were accessed by unknown third parties after ePHI data was unwittingly transferred to a server accessible to the public. OCR determined this fee to be unreasonable and that there had been a 15-month delay in providing the patient with the requested records. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has announced it has reached a settlement with North Memorial Health Care of Minnesota over alleged HIPAA violations from a 2011 data breach. This discrepancy is expected to be addressed through further rulemaking to make the new penalty structure permanent. 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. Read More, Presence Health, one of the largest healthcare networks serving residents of Illinois, has agreed to pay OCR $475,000 to settle potential HIPAA Breach Notification Rule violations. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' ability to evaluate ethical violations to hypothetical case studies involving social media use. 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. A violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 - $50,000. 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. An OCR investigation confirmed allegations that a dental practice flagged some of its medical records with a red sticker with the word "AIDS" on the outside cover, and that records were handled so that other patients and staff without need to know could read the sticker. 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. By increasing its enforcement activity, OCR is sending a message to all covered entities, large and small, that violations of HIPAA Rules will not be tolerated. Read More, Southwest Surgical Associates in Texas took 13 months to provide a patient with all of the requested records between February 11, 2020, and March 5, 2021. To resolve this matter, the mental health center revised its intake assessment policy and procedures to specify that the notice will be provided and the clinician will attempt to obtain a signed acknowledgement of receipt of the notice prior to the intake assessment. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); But violations are also quite serious. The device contained a range of patients ePHI, including full names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. The Center provided OCR with a valid authorization, signed by the complainant, permitting the release of information to the auto insurance company. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OR for $75,000. Read More, Parkview Healthcare System has agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement for a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. 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. In many cases, records were only provided after OCR intervened. Read More, OCR fined Pagosa Springs Medical Center $111,400 for the failure to terminate a former employees access to a web-based scheduling calendar, which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 557 patients ePHI. The acknowledgement form is now included in the intake package of forms. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages Contacting individuals to participate in a research study is a use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for recruitment, as it is part of the research and is not an activity preparatory to research. Memphis Commercial Appeal. Read More, After the permanent closure of the company, paperwork containing former patients PHI was discarded by FileFax. Read More, WellPoint is one of the largest providers of Affiliated Health Plans, with almost 36 million policyholders across the United States. 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. All Case Examples. 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. The case was settled for $850,000. Read more, The California-based psychiatric medical services provider failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records and charged an unreasonable fee when the records were eventually provided. The device was not password-protected, and the personal information of over 20,000 patients wasn't encrypted. 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. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. 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 This was the case in 2019, when a number of healthcare professionals accessed a particular actor's medical records after the actor was part of a potential hoax hate-crime, which became headline news. 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 infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. Read More, A HIPAA settlement of $218,400 has been reached with St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) for violations of HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. In the first half of 2018, more than 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents. The financial consequences of violating HIPAA depend on the level of negligence and if a breach has occurred the number of records potentially exposed by the breach and the risk posed by the unauthorized disclosure: The figures listed above represent the fines that can be imposed by OCR. 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. 3. 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. 3 Examples of HIPAA Violation Cases Example #1: When it comes to HIPAA, curiosity can kill the cat or your career. Issue: Access. Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records > HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement The claim included the patients test results. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Read More, Washington, NC-based Metropolitan Community Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center. The Board can report disciplinary actions to other agencies that oversee nursing licenses. A private practice failed to honor an individual's request for a complete copy of her minor son's medical record. 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. 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. Violations related to HIPAA laws have serious consequences, including job loss and other penalties. A radiology practice that interpreted a hospital patients imaging tests submitted a workers compensation claim to the patients employer. Washington, D.C. 20201 Toll Free Call Center: 1-800-368-1019 The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. A good example of this is a laptop that is stolen. 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. 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). Issue: Conditioning Compliance with the Privacy Rule. This was OCRs first settlement under the 2019 HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative. 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. 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, 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. OCR provided technical assistance to the covered entity, explaining that the Privacy Rule permits a covered entity to provide a summary of patient records rather than the full record only if the requesting individual agrees in advance to such a summary or explanation. OCR provided technical assistance and closed the case, but the records were still not provided. Read More, Catholic Health Care Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has agreed to settle alleged HIPAA violations with the OCR and implement a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). Failure to report a violation could have serious consequences. The case was settled for $3 million. 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, Athens Orthopedic Clinic PA in Georgia had its systems hacked in 2016. The case was settled for $2,300,000. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations. The case was settled for $15,000. A hospital employee did not observe minimum necessary requirements when she left a telephone message with the daughter of a patient that detailed both her medical condition and treatment plan. During the investigation, OCR discovered the business associate had acquired Peachstate, a CLIA-certified laboratory that provides clinical and genetic testing services. Read More, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg was investigated following receipt of a complaint from a patient on August 14, 2018. 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. Read More, Office for Civil Rights has agreed to its largest-ever financial penalty for a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acts Privacy and Security Rules. Even though it is not done maliciously. Large Medicaid Plan Corrects Vulnerability that Resulted in Dsiclosure to Non-BA Vendors The previous record was the $3.5 million settlement with Triple S Management Corporation agreed in November 2015. 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. Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record Read More, Great Expressions Dental Center of Georgia, P.C. 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. HIPAA Violation Case Settled Between Ambulance Company & OCR for $65,000. 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. In response to OCRs investigation, the mental health center acknowledged that it had not provided the complainant and his daughter with a notice prior to her mental health evaluation. If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. 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. Covered Entity: Private Practices Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications OCR settled the case for $50,000. MIE also settled a multi-state action with state attorneys general and paid a penalty of $900,000. The hospital disciplined and retrained the employee who made the impermissible disclosure. If a nurse violates HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse for a HIPAA violation. District of Ohio dismissed her case. in Chicago, Illinois, was investigated in response to a complaint from a patient who had only been provided with a partial copy of her requested medical records. Covered Entity: Private Practice 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. November 16, 2022. Read More, Lifespan Health System Affiliated Covered Entity is a Rhode Island healthcare provider. In addition, the employee who made the disclosure was counseled and given a written warning. Brigham and Womens Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $384,000. 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. St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center Inc. has paid OCR $387,200 to resolve potential HIPAA violations discovered during an OCR investigation of a complaint about an impermissible disclosure of PHI. Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the pharmacy revised its policies regarding PHI and retrained its staff. As of July 2022, there have been 38 HIPAA Right of Access cases under this compliance initiative that resulted in financial penalties. The maximum financial penalty, for willful neglect of the HIPAA Rules, is $1.5 million, per violation category, per year. Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. A New York City Hospital Is Investigating a Nurse for Sharing Video Footage With The Intercept Lillian Udell is being investigated for violating privacy laws after sharing video of nurses. A nurse and an orderly at a state hospital discussed the HIV/AIDS status of a patient and the patient's spouse within earshot of other patients without making reasonable efforts to prevent the disclosure. 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. OCR determined there had been a failure to protect patient information which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 2,150 patient records. New York and Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University (CU) will jointly pay a penalty of $4,800,000. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and a HIPAA privacy officer had not been appointed. The man sued the clinic, even though it had already dismissed the nurse from her job. Dr. Glazer did not cooperate with OCR during the investigation, resulting in OCR imposing a civil monetary penalty of $100,000 for the HIPAA Right of Access violation. But it's vital. Therefore, it . Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. Covered Entity: Private Practice 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. 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. OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Physician Revises Faxing Procedures to Safeguard PHI Covered Entity: Health Care Provider / General Hospital 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. 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. After the investigation, Ms D was informed that she was being terminated from her job based on her violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for . 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. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. 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. 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. Another potential HIPAA violation that's easily overlooked is discussing information over the phone. 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. Read More, An investigation into Anthem Incs massive 78.8 million-record data breach of 2015 revealed multiple HIPAA violations. Nurses HIPAA Violation Examples The list of potential HIPAA violations by nurses is long so the most commonly experienced nurse HIPAA violations are listed below: 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. 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 OCR intervened and provided technical assistance, but it took 16 months for the records to be provided. In 2017, Lifespan mentioned in a news release that someone broke into an employee vehicle and stole their work laptop. Issue: Access, Authorization. By 2011, the UCLA Health System would agree to pay a fine of $865,000 to settle HIPAA privacy violations at its three hospitals. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $5,000. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. The settlement stems from an impermissible disclosure in a press release issued by MHHS in September 2015. Read More, Office for Civil Rights has announced a settlement of $1,215,780 has been reached with Affinity Health Plan, Inc., to resolve potential HIPAA violations discovered during a breach investigation. 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. OCR also found the Notice of Privacy Practices to be inadequate. The case was settled for $10,000. Since then, OCR has been cracking down on entities that have failed to provide individuals with timely access to their medical records. The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. 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.