A violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 - $50,000. Shaila Mae. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a year later alleging the records had still not been provided. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. Read More, An article published in the LA Times started a sequence of events that has now resulted in Shasta Regional Medical Center (SRMC) agreeing to a settlement of $275,000 for its violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. In 2016, 12 entities agreed to settle their compliance investigations and pay a financial penalty, with one case seeing civil monetary penalties imposed. 7 Tips to Avoid a HIPAA Violation As a Nurse - ULM Online Nancy Brent replies: Dear Paige: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountabilty Act requires that all covered entities (including nurses, whether they work in a hospital or other healthcare setting) protect against unauthorized disclosure of a patient's personally identifiable health information. Read More, OCR agreed to settle multiple alleged HIPAA violations with Cottage Health for $3,000,000. Further, the covered entity counseled the supervisor about appropriate use of the medical information of a subordinate. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $65,000. Outpatient Surgical Facility Corrects Privacy Procedure in Research Recruitment OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint two months later when the records had still not been provided. RN breaches patient confidentiality policy to check work schedule 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. OCR required the covered entity to cease using the patient agreement that conditioned the entitys compliance with the Privacy Rule. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has fined New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) $2.2 million for allowing patients to be filmed for a TV show without obtaining prior permission from patients. Top 15 Celebrity HIPAA Fails, Violations & Their Consequences Covered Entity: Private Practice Covered Entity: Health Care Provider Read More, Idaho State Universitys Pocatello Family Medicine Clinic disabled the firewall that was protecting a server containing the medical health records of 17,500 patients. The server had been purchased and a file-sharing application was installed, yet no changes were made to the application. Large Health System Restricts Provider's Use of Patient Records Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, texting or calling a coworker to ask about a shared patient's case would be a HIPAA violation. Metro Community Provider Network (MCPN) has agreed to pay OCR $400,000 and adopt a robust corrective action plan to resolve all HIPAA compliance issues identified during the OCR investigation. HIPAA violations don't just occur when a nurse posts something of their own accord. 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. Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI 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. Listed below are all the OCR HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in a financial penalty. In fact, even a competent healthcare facility will experience minor HIPAA violation cases at some point. This is the second-largest settlement amount agreed with OCR. OCR settled the case for $22,500. Violating HIPAA law can result in fines, job termination, loss of licensure, and criminal charges. The above penalties were implemented as demanded by the HITECH Act of 2009 and increase annually in line with inflation. 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. OCR provided technical assistance to the physician, explaining that, in general, the Privacy Rule requires that a covered entity provide an individual access to their medical record within 30 days of a request, regardless of whether or not the individual has a balance due. The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. 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. Covered Entity: General Hospital Case Examples by Issue. The settlement resolves HIPAA violations that contributed to the university experiencing a malware infection in 2013. The HHS` Office of Civil Rights receives between 1,200 and 1,500 complaints and notifications of breaches per year. Read More, Exposure of ePHI as a direct result of the failure to conduct a comprehensive risk analysis and a security assessment on a server prior to using it to share files containing ePHI. OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. Covered Entity: Private Practice HIPAA Horror Stories: 5 True HIPAA Violation Cases The device was not password-protected, and the personal information of over 20,000 patients wasn't encrypted. Numbers at a Glance - Current | HHS.gov 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. HIPAA Journal states that if a nurse violates HIPAA, it is important that the incident is reported to the person responsible for HIPAA compliance in your facility or your supervisor. 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. A violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 $50,000. The case was settled for $1,500,000. Delaware Co. June 5, 2012). 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 . The center also provided OCR with written assurance that all policy changes were brought to the attention of the staff involved in the daughters care and then disseminated to all staff affected by the policy change. 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 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. Read More, OCR has just announced it has agreed to the largest ever HIPAA settlement with a single covered entity. If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. Disciplinary Actions and Reinstatements - California Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle the case without admission of liability. The case was settled for $15,000. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Safeguards. All rights reserved. Fired after violating a patient's privacy - Clinical AdvisorExamples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses - HIPAA Coach So-mogye v. Toledo Clinic, 2012 WL 2191279 (N.D. Ohio, June 14, 2012). OCR also discovered a business associate failure. In some severe cases, yes, nurses can lose their jobs if they violate HIPAA. Health Plan Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI through Training, Mitigation, and Sanctions HIPAA Violations Among Nursing Students: Teaching Moment or Terminal 11 medical record snooping cases in 2020 - Becker's Hospital Review It took multiple requests and almost 5 months for all of the requested medical records to be provided. Cancel Any Time. Read More, All Inclusive Medical Services, Inc. (AIMS) is a Carmichael, CA-based multi-specialty family medicine clinic. 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. For one violation, fines can range from $100-$50,000 for each instance of wrongdoing. Also, computer screens displaying patient information were easily visible to patients. 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. 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. OCR investigated and identified longstanding, systemic noncompliance with the HIPAA Security Rule, including risk analysis and risk management failures, and the failure to provide security awareness training to employees. 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. By 2011, the UCLA Health System would agree to pay a fine of $865,000 to settle HIPAA privacy violations at its three hospitals. When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. Additionally, OCR required the covered entity to revise its Notice of Privacy Practices. 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 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. OCRs investigation revealed that the Center provided the complainant with an opportunity to review her medical record, including the psychotherapy notes, with her therapist, but the Center did not provide her with a copy of her records. The settlement stems from an impermissible disclosure in a press release issued by MHHS in September 2015. 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. Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. Issue: Minimum Necessary; Confidential Communications. 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. 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. The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. These cases include civil monetary penalties, where it has been established that HIPAA Rules have been violated, and settlements, where HIPAA violations have been alleged to have occurred but the covered entity or business associate has decided not to contest the case and has instead chosen to pay a financial penalty to resolve the potential HIPAA violations with no admission of liability. The case was ultimately unsuccessful; the court ruled in favor of the nurse. OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. Covered Entity: General Hospitals CHCS will also pay a financial penalty of $650,000. 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. To sign up for updates or to access your subscriber preferences, please enter your contact information below. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. 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 more servers cases, or where multiple violations have occurred, the nurse may lose their job. 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. A complaint alleged that a law firm working on behalf of a pharmacy chain in an administrative proceeding impermissibly disclosed the PHI of a customer of the pharmacy chain. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. OCR provided technical assistance and closed the case, but the records were still not provided. > HIPAA Home But it's vital. 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. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and a HIPAA privacy officer had not been appointed. Covered Entity: Pharmacies 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. 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 2015, Premera discovered there had been a breach of the ePHI of 10,466,692 individuals. In 2017, Lifespan mentioned in a news release that someone broke into an employee vehicle and stole their work laptop. Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. 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. A mental health center did not provide a notice of privacy practices (notice) to a father or his minor daughter, a patient at the center. Issue: Access. 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. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Read More, Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas received five requests from a patient for complete records to be provided between June 2019 and January 2020. Nurse Pleads Guilty to HIPAA Violation A licensed practical nurse who pled guilty to wrongfully disclosing a patient's health information for personal gain faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or both. Read More, OCR received a complaint from a patient of Dr. Rajendra Bhayani, a Regal Park, NY-based private practitioner specializing in otolaryngology, alleging he had not provided a patient with a copy of her medical records. Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses Documentation was uncovered that clearly showed that mobile devices were believed to represent a critical security risk, yet action was not taken to address this issue in time to prevent the data breach. Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. HIPAA Violations: Examples, Penalties + 5 Cases to Learn From - Secureframe 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. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") refused to provide her with a copy of her medical record, including psychotherapy notes. HIPAA breaches in 2019: A year in review Even though it is not done maliciously. Hospital workers disciplined for viewing patients' genitals | CNN It did not change the maximum penalty for a violation, which means that the maximum penalty for a tier 1 violation is higher than the annual penalty cap, but for as long as the notice of enforcement discretion is in effect, the maximum penalty per year applies. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required that the private practice revise its policies and procedures regarding access requests to reflect the individual's right of access regardless of payment source. Gossip is a casual conversation about other people which can be positive, neutral, or negative. 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 covered entitys obligation to comply with all requirements of the Privacy Rule cannot be conditioned on the patients silence. 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. 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. Physician Revises Faxing Procedures to Safeguard PHI Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. Issue: Safeguards. 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. Within the space of three months, the protected health information of over 7,000 patients was exposed. Serious violations, even if the intent is not malicious, are likely to result in disciplinary action. The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. 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. The case was settled with OCR for $300,640. Read More, Skagit County, Washington is paying the price for failing to implement the appropriate controls and safeguards to protect the data it held. In the first half of 2018, more than 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents. Read more, OCR investigated a breach reported by the Department of Veteran Affairs involving a business associate, Authentidate Holding Corporation. The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Mental Health Center Provides Access and Revises Policies and Procedures HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts, Termination Upheld. Hospital Revises Email Distribution as a Result of a Disclosure to Persons Without a "Need to Know" 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 case was settled for $3 million. An outpatient surgical facility disclosed a patient's protected health information (PHI) to a research entity for recruitment purposes without the patient's authorization or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or privacy-board-approved waiver of authorization. The hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new procedures. 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. The PHI of 58,106 patients was improperly disposed of during that timeframe. In addition, OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, a risk management failure, and a lack of device media controls. renewals of licenses or APRN authorizations, or both. The impermissible disclosures of PHI resulted in a $10,000 settlement. 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. Massachusetts General Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $515,000. Blogs - Skyhigh Security Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain Case Examples Organized by Issue | HHS.gov However, as violations of HIPAA are so severe, then CEs will choose to terminate the . Skagit County agreed to pay OCR $215,000 following the exposure of data of seven individuals. Maybe PHI was in the background unknowingly. Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. Pharmacy Chain Institutes New Safeguards for PHI in Pseudoephedrine Log Books OCR settled the case for $30,000. The Center provided OCR with a valid authorization, signed by the complainant, permitting the release of information to the auto insurance company. Fines for "reasonable cause" violations range from $100 to $50,000. Issue: Impermissible Use and Disclosure. HIPAA Breach Cases 2020 - ComplianceJunction HMORevises Process to Obtain Valid Authorizations 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. Operating as Agape Health Services, the company experienced a breach of the ePHI of 1,263 patients. State Hospital Sanctions Employees for Disclosing Patient's PHI Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. A municipal social service agency disclosed protected health information while processing Medicaid applications by sending consolidated data to computer vendors that were not business associates. 1. Covered Entity: Private Practice Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . 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. In August 2012, Cancer Care Group discovered a laptop computer and unencrypted backup drive had been stolen from the vehicle of an employee. OCR discovered risk analysis failures, a lack of policies covering electronic devices, a lack of encryption or alternative safeguards, insufficient security policies, and insufficient physical safeguards, resulting in an impermissible disclosure of 521 individuals PHI. 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. According to the Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 112, Section 77, the Board must report disciplinary actions to national data reporting systems. This was OCRs first settlement under the 2019 HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violation. Read More, OCR received a complaint from a patient of NY Spine, a private New York medical practice, who alleged she had not been provided with a copy of the diagnostic films that she specifically requested. Data were accessed by unknown third parties after ePHI data was unwittingly transferred to a server accessible to the public. That's almost an hour devoted to talking about someone else. The case was settled for $160,000. 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. The Center did not, however, provide the complainant with the opportunity to have the denial reviewed, as required by the Privacy Rule. The disclosed information included details of patients visits, treatment, and insurance. The Paubox team exported all reported incidents from HHS's official Breach Portal from January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019 and used the data to compile the following summary. Gossip HIPAA Violations: When, Where, How and Why Etactics Toll Free Call Center: 1-800-368-1019 Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the covered entity to revise its policy. In case you aren't sure what I mean regarding judgment and professional boundaries: Nurses need to avoid the appearance of impropriety. A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. 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. Raleigh Orthopaedic has agreed to pay OCR $750,000 for failing to enter into a business associate agreement (BAA) with a vendor before handing over the protected health information (PHI) of 17,300 patients in 2013. The hacker stole data, attempted to extort money, and leaked the ePHI of 208,557 patients online when payment was not received. The device contained a range of patients ePHI, including full names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. 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. The new procedures were incorporated into the standard staff privacy training, both as part of a refresher series and mandatory yearly compliance training.
