In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. However, the court also legitimized private cause for action in HIPAA lawsuits, which could set a precedent for HIPAA related legal action. Question: Dear Nancy, Can an RN lose his or her nursing license over a HIPAA violation? The case was settled for $160,000. 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. 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. A nurse at a Texas children's hospital has been fired for violating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules by posting protected health information on a social media website. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. Read More, In March 2019, OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged she had not been provided with a copy of her medical records in the requested electronic format despite making repeated requests. Covered Entity: General Hospital September 05, 2017 - A Kentucky hospital was found to have acted lawfully when it fired a nurse for committing a HIPAA violation, according to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Read More, OCR investigated three breaches involving the loss of a laptop computer and two unencrypted thumb drives containing patients PHI. The paperwork was taken by a member of the public who sold the material to a recycling facility. 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. 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. The HHS` Office of Civil Rights receives between 1,200 and 1,500 complaints and notifications of breaches per year. Scott Harris and the rest of our team at S J Harris Law will be ready to help you pursue any option available that allows you to keep your license and continue working, no matter what industry you are in. An organizations prior history with regard to HIPAA non-compliance can also be a contributory factor in the calculation of penalties for HIPAA violations and therefore a second or subsequent fine will likely be much larger than the first. Unprotected storage of private health information can be an issue. Covered Entity: Health Plans / HMOs 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. All Case Examples. On September 29, 2011, a portable USB storage device (pen drive) was left overnight in the IT Department from where it was stolen. Private Practice Provides Access to All Records, Regardless of Source 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. Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . Read More, Erie County Medical Center Corporation in Buffalo, NY, failed to provide a patient with timely access to his medical records. Private Practice Revises Access Procedure to Provide Access Despite an Outstanding Balance HHS The case was settled for $1,040,000. Department of Justice is the authority that handles all the breach fines and charges for violating HIPAA regulations. If a nurse breaches HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse directly for a HIPAA breach. 0:57. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state laws. This case study involving one nursing education program's experience with a HIPAA violation illustrates how one nursing college dealt with a student's HIPAA . A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. Hackers used a compromised username and password to gain access to a server that contained the protected health information (PHI) of 3.5 million individuals. OCR stepped up enforcement of compliance with the HIPAA Rules in 2016, more than doubling the number of financial penalties. Your Privacy Respected Please see HIPAA Journal privacy policy. If an organization fails to take corrective action after having been issued a fine, the HHS Office of Civil Rights can impose subsequent fines. Case Examples by Covered Entity. Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. Nope. Read More, The settlement relates to the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 2,209 patients in 2011. 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. Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has taken action against a Denver, CO-based federally-qualified health center (FQHC) for security management process failures that contributed to the organization experiencing a data breach in 2011. Read more, Arbour Hospital, a mental health clinic in Boston, MA, failed to provide a patient with the requested medical records within 30 days. 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, 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 table above will be updated when the new penalty amounts for 2023 are finalized by the HHS. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Read More, Washington, NC-based Metropolitan Community Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center. Criminal HIPAA violations and penalties fall under three tiers: Tier 1: Deliberately obtaining and disclosing PHI without authorization up to one year in jail and a $50,000 fine Tier 2: Obtaining PHI under false pretenses up to five years in jail and a $100,000 fine Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research 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. Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain The revised policies are applicable to all individual stores in the pharmacy chain. 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. 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. The hospital asserted that the disclosures were made to avert a serious threat to health or safety; however, OCRs investigation indicated that the disclosures did not meet the Privacy Rules standard for such actions. Read More, Fallbrook Family Health Center in Nebraska failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. OCR discovered risk analysis failures, risk management failures, a failure toconduct technical and non-technical evaluations following environmental or operational changes, and the disclosure of ePHI to a contractor without first entering into a business associate agreement. The case was settled for $2,300,000. Read More, Lawrence Bell, Jr. D.D.S in Maryland failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. Issue: Access, Authorization. Five Memphis healthcare workers charged with conspiracy, HIPAA violations. Some of these were HIPAA violations from employees posting a patient's protected health information (PHI) the social web. 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. Yes. OCR determined there had been a failure to protect patient information which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 2,150 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 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 employee responsible for the disclosure received a written disciplinary warning, and both the employee and the physician apologized to the patient. Failure to report a violation could have serious consequences. In 2013 and 2015, protections on servers were accidentally removed and files containing ePHI could be accessed over the internet without the need for a username or password. Resolution Agreements. Issue: Notice. Over the past 12 months, the style and severity of threats have continuously evolved. 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. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers A violation due to willful neglect which is not corrected within thirty days will attract the maximum fine of $50,000. The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. Read More, Paradise Family Dental was investigated in response to a complaint that a parent had not been provided with a copy of her minor childs medical records, despite submitting multiple requests to the practice. The possibility of HIPAA lawsuits brought forth by patients and breach victims could change HIPAA enforcement. The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards This was OCRs first settlement under the 2019 HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative. Under the revised policies and procedures, the practice may use and disclose PHI for research purposes, including recruitment, only if a valid authorization is obtained from each individual or if the covered entity obtains documentation that an alteration to or a waiver of the authorization requirement has been approved by an IRB or a Privacy Board. The 2020 increase is largely due to OCRs HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative, which was launched in late 2019. 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. Memorial Healthcare Systems has paid the penalty for non-compliance with HIPAA Rules, and in addition to the $5.5 million settlement, a robust corrective action plan must be adopted to address all areas of non-compliance. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure and the case was settled for $100,000. Covered Entity: Private Practice OCR determined its compliance program had been in disarray for several years. OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. 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. The maximum penalty for a single breach is $1.5 million per year. The case was settled for $3 million. Disciplinary actions are part of the public record. The records were provided within days of OCR intervening. 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, Great Expressions Dental Center of Georgia, P.C. 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. 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. The nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. The above penalties were implemented as demanded by the HITECH Act of 2009 and increase annually in line with inflation. 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. 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 number of patients were filmed, but consent had not been obtained. Further information on the penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations. 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. 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). 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. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. An OCR investigation indicated that the form the HMO relied on to make the disclosure was not a valid authorization under the Privacy Rule. 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. Delaware Co. June 5, 2012). 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. 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. In many cases, records were only provided after OCR intervened. Technical assistance had previously been provided by OCR, but devices had still not been encrypted. 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. Nurses may violate HIPAA if they use non-approved channels to transmit patient information. 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. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the health insurer to train its staff on the applicable policies and procedures and to mitigate the harm to the individual. Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. CHCS also failed to implement appropriate security measures to address risks to ePHI in accordance with 45 C.F.R. In 2016, 12 entities agreed to settle their compliance investigations and pay a financial penalty, with one case seeing civil monetary penalties imposed. OCR settled the case for $50,000. Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications A case study involving one nursing education program's experience with a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violation is used to illustrate how one nursing. The hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new procedures. Gossip is a casual conversation about other people which can be positive, neutral, or negative. The minimum fine is $100 per violation (up to $50,000) for Category 1 violations. However, up to 500 cases per year result in a fine and/or corrective action being required. 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. A penalty of $2.7 million will be paid by OHSU to settle alleged HIPAA violations without admission of liability. Health Specialists of Central Florida Inc. settled the case with OCR and paid a $20,000 penalty. 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. 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. Breach News It took 8 months from the date of the first request for the records to be provided. Data were accessed by unknown third parties after ePHI data was unwittingly transferred to a server accessible to the public. A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. Between 2005 and 2019, healthcare data breaches affected nearly 250 million people. Corinne S Kennedy. 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. The case was settled for $10,000. 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. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection.