The directory contained files that included the protected health information (PHI) of 307,839 individuals. Jail Nursing: No Deliberate The case was settled for $2.175 million. All Case Examples. The previous record was the $3.5 million settlement with Triple S Management Corporation agreed in November 2015. The data breach investigation revealed a substandard security management process and a catalog of HIPAA Security Rule violations. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . When dealing with these complex issues, you need legal representation that has a long track record of success in these types of cases. 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. Health care providers (persons and units) that provide, bill for and are paid for health care and transmit Protected Health Information (governs how individuals can use and disclose confidential patient information) in connection with certain transactions are required to comply with the privacy and security regulations established according to the Health Insurance Portability and . 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. However, the patient was not covered by workers compensation and had not identified workers compensation as responsible for payment. To avoid these, a proactive approach should include a regular risk assessment and corrective action plan. The nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. 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. The nonprofit teaching hospital has also agreed to adopt the OCRs corrective action plan to address HIPAA-compliance issues discovered by OCR investigators. Read More, OCR received a complaint from a patient of California-based Riverside Psychiatric Medical Group in March 2019 alleging he had not been provided with a copy of his medical records. OCR investigated and found the EHR company had been allowed access to ePHI without signing a business associate agreement and risk analysis and risk management failures. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") refused to provide her with a copy of her medical record, including psychotherapy notes. Read More, Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy, Inc., (CPT) has agreed to pay a fine of $25,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services after the company posted photographs and names of patients on the client testimonial section of its website without first having obtained HIPAA-compliant authorizations from the patients in question. 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. Court Holds Up Termination for Nurse HIPAA Violation A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 - $50,000. OCR settled the case for $5,000. 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. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. The case was settled for $1,040,000. The case was settled for $15,000. Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. A Georgia man has been sentenced to federal prison in an unusual case in which he portrayed himself as a whistleblower while falsely reporting to authorities that a hospital worker committed criminal HIPAA violations. One of the most common HIPAA violations is a result of lost company devices. The case was settled for $6,850,000. A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. 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. 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. 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. 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. Covered Entity: Health Plans / HMOs The acknowledgement form is now included in the intake package of forms. Massachusetts General Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $515,000. Read More, Life Hope Labs, LLC, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, failed to provide an individual with the medical records of her deceased father in a timely manner. 2020-2021 HIPAA Violation Cases and Penalties - HIPAA Journal When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. The nurse explained that the two individuals whose . Read More, The University of Washington Medicine has agreed to settle with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights and will pay a HIPAA fine of $750,000 for potential HIPAA violations stemming from a 90,000-record data breach suffered in 2013. In addition, the employee who made the disclosure was counseled and given a written warning. HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts, Termination Upheld. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations. Now add up that time for a week, a month, or even a year. The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. District of Ohio dismissed her case. Moreover, the entity was required to train of all staff on the revised policy. Read More, OCR has just announced it has agreed to the largest ever HIPAA settlement with a single covered entity. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. 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. 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. 4) Loss or Theft of Devices. The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. 164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B). 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. 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. ACMHS has agreed to settle the case with OCR for $150,000. Issue: Safeguards. 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. OCR determined this fee to be unreasonable and that there had been a 15-month delay in providing the patient with the requested records. Initially, the pharmacy chain refused to acknowledge that the log books contained protected health information. November 16, 2022. Among the corrective actions required to resolve this case, OCR required the insurer to correct the flaw in its computer system, review all transactions for a six month period and correct all corrupted patient information. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state laws. 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. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance on the HIPAA Right of Access but received a second complaint when the records had still not been provided. 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. Read More, Associated Retina Specialists in New York took 5 months to provide a patient with the requested medical records. Covered Entity: Private Practice HIPAA Violation Cases - Updated 2023 - HIPAA Journal Common HIPAA violations include verbal discussions of PHI in public areas of a healthcare facility, stolen laptops used in patient care, accessing PHI when the access is not directly related to or while providing care to a patient and, in this reader's case, placing a patient's healthcare document in the regular trash. Fresenius Medical Care North America settled the case for $3,500,000. Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. 0:57. Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Disclosures to Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. Social Media Posts Could Have Consequences for Your Career Read more, Ridgewood, NJ-based Village Plastic Surgeryfailed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. HIPAA calls for civil fines up to $25,000 per violation to be paid by the employer, and criminal fines up to $250,000 to be paid by the employer and/or the individual. Not necessary. 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. Issue: Access, A patient alleged that a covered entity failed to provide him access to his medical records. The infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. The case was settled for $25,000. They split the fines and charges into two categories: reasonable cause and willful neglect. Technical assistance had previously been provided by OCR, but devices had still not been encrypted. 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. OCR conducted an investigation into an incident involving a stolen laptop that contained the ePHI of 20,431 patients. Covered Entity: General Hospital What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA? - HIPAA Guide 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. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was ordered to pay a civil monetary penalty of $4,348,000. Read More, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. 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. 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. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality. Hospital Revises Email Distribution as a Result of a Disclosure to Persons Without a "Need to Know" A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. The case was settled for $3 million. Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Content last reviewed December 23, 2022. Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. 0:04. OCR settled the case for $240,000. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. 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. The case was settled with OCR for $300,640. State Hospital Sanctions Employees for Disclosing Patient's PHI Read More, New England Dermatology and Laser Center in Massachusetts disposed of empty specimen containers in regular dumpsters between February 4, 2011, and March 31, 2021. The maximum financial penalty, for willful neglect of the HIPAA Rules, is $1.5 million, per violation category, per year. 13 hospital workers fired for snooping in Britney Spears' medical 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. > HIPAA Home Covered Entity: Pharmacies Case Examples. Violating HIPAA law can result in fines, job termination, loss of licensure, and criminal charges. The investigation revealed a failure to conduct an accurate risk analysis, noncompliance with the security incident response and reporting requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule, the failure to conduct an evaluation following changes that affected the security of ePHI, a lack of audit controls, breach notification delays, and the impermissible disclosure of the PHI of 279,865 individuals. 3 Examples of HIPAA Violation Cases Example #1: When it comes to HIPAA, curiosity can kill the cat or your career. 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 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. 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. In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. 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. Settlements have previously been agreed upon with healthcare providers, health plans, and business associates of covered entities, but this is the first time OCR has settled potential HIPAA violations with a wireless health services provider. HITECH News There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state privacy laws. 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. This will have long-lasting ramifications. The records were provided on September 14, 2020. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure-Research. For example, any HIPAA form a patient signs needs to have a Right to Revoke clause. Further, the covered entity counseled the supervisor about appropriate use of the medical information of a subordinate. OCR received a complaint from a patient who had not been provided with a copy of his medical records. OCR settled the case for $20,000. North Memorial has agreed to pay $1,550,000 to OCR to settle the HIPAA violation charges. Shaila Mae. 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 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. Since then, OCR has been cracking down on entities that have failed to provide individuals with timely access to their medical records. The case was settled for $3,500. 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 violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 $50,000. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 $50,000. 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. It took 8 months from the date of the first request for the records to be provided. Issue: Access. 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. OCR provided technical assistance but received another complaint from the same patient that the records had still not been provided. 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. Nursing student Hipaa violation - HIPAA Challenges - allnurses The case was settled with OCR for $25,000. Below are details of 47 incidents since 2012 in which workers at nursing homes and assisted-living centers shared photos or videos of residents on social media networks. 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. The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Your Privacy Respected Please see HIPAA Journal privacy policy. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. OCRs investigators identified a risk analysis failure, a lack of reviews of system activity, a failure to verify identity for access to PHI, and insufficient technical safeguards. 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