nurse hipaa violation cases

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. When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. Among other steps to resolve the specific issue in this case, OCR required the private practice to revise its access policy and procedures to affirm that, consistent with the Privacy Rule standards, patients have access to their record regardless of whether another entity created information contained within it. Upon learning of the incident, the hospital placed both employees on leave; the orderly resigned his employment shortly thereafter. Nope. Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. UMMC has also agreed to adopt a corrective action plan (CAP) to bring privacy and security standards up to the level required by HIPAA. OCR investigated Peachstate and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. 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. 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. A nurse practitioner who has privileges at a multi-hospital health care system and who is part of the systems organized health care arrangement impermissibly accessed the medical records of her ex-husband. But violations are also quite serious. 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. OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. The nonprofit teaching hospital has also agreed to adopt the OCRs corrective action plan to address HIPAA-compliance issues discovered by OCR investigators. 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. During the investigation, OCR discovered the business associate had acquired Peachstate, a CLIA-certified laboratory that provides clinical and genetic testing services. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages Disciplinary actions are part of the public record. Further information on the penalties for HIPAA violations are detailed here. Large Health System Restricts Provider's Use of Patient Records Covered Entity: General Hospital The disclosed information included details of patients visits, treatment, and insurance. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. 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. The claim included the patients test results. 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. Contrary to the Privacy Rule protections for information sought for administrative or judicial proceedings, the hospital failed to determine that reasonable efforts had been made to insure that the individual whose PHI was being sought received notice of the request and/or failed to receive satisfactory assurance that the party seeking the information made reasonable efforts to secure a qualified protective order. 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 . The device was not password-protected, and the personal information of over 20,000 patients wasn't encrypted. The case was settled for $2,300,000. 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. When you're discussing a patient's information on the phone, you need to be in a private place where others can't hear you. 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. 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. 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. Read More, OCR investigated a complaint from a mother who requested a copy of her sons medical records from St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center but had not been provided with a complete set of the records. Outpatient Surgical Facility Corrects Privacy Procedure in Research Recruitment The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. 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. Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . 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. 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. The Center provided OCR with a valid authorization, signed by the complainant, permitting the release of information to the auto insurance company. The following three years saw similar numbers of financial penalties; however, there was another major increase in HIPAA fines in 2020 when 19 HIPAA violation cases were settled with OCR. 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. And when data breaches like this occur, it's usually because of a HIPAA violation. 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. 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: Mental Health Center The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. Washington, D.C. 20201 Read More, OCR has just announced it has agreed to the largest ever HIPAA settlement with a single covered entity. 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. Without a properly executed agreement, a covered entity may not disclose PHI to its law firm. Read More, On May 9, 2014, Touchstone Medical Imaging was informed by the FBI that one of its FTP servers was accessible over the Internet and allowed anonymous connections to a shared directory. 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. Case Examples. Breach News The hacker stole data, attempted to extort money, and leaked the ePHI of 208,557 patients online when payment was not received. 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. The patient filed a complaint with OCR and the records were eventually provided more than 10 months later. This is the second-largest settlement amount agreed with OCR. The settlement resolves HIPAA violations that contributed to the university experiencing a malware infection in 2013. After OCR notified the entity of the allegation, the entity released the complainants medical records but also billed him $100.00 for a records review fee as well as an administrative fee. Once the physician learned that he could not withhold access until payment was made, the physician provided the complainant a copy of her medical record. Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain Issue: Impermissible Use and Disclosure, A complainant, who was both a patient and an employee of the hospital, alleged that her protected health information (PHI) was impermissibly disclosed to her supervisor. The case was settled for $25,000. Under the Notice of Enforcement Discretion, the maximum annual penalty for a violation could be capped at $25,000 for tier 1, $100,000 for tier 2, and $250,000 for tier 3. Allergy Associates of Hartford paid OCR $125,000 to settle the alleged HIPAA violations. OCR determined this fee to be unreasonable and that there had been a 15-month delay in providing the patient with the requested records. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. 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. After treating a patient injured in a rather unusual sporting accident, the hospital released to the local media, without the patients authorization, copies of the patients skull x-ray as well as a description of the complainants medical condition. 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. Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $70,000. Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. 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. > HIPAA Home 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. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state privacy laws. The case was settled for $3 million.

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