Read More, A $2.5 million settlement has been agreed upon with CardioNet to resolve potential HIPAA violations. Read More, A patient of University of Cincinnati Medical Center filed a complaint with OCR after not being provided with her requested records more than 13 weeks after submitting a request. OCR settled the case for $55,000. A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. OCR received a complaint from a patient alleging BILHBS had not provided a copy of her fathers medical records. 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 outpatient facility reportedly believed that such disclosures were permitted by the Privacy Rule. Gossip is a casual conversation about other people which can be positive, neutral, or negative. Department of Justice is the authority that handles all the breach fines and charges for violating HIPAA regulations. HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared OCR settled the case for $55,000. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality. 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. Issue: Conditioning Compliance with the Privacy Rule. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. Within the space of three months, the protected health information of over 7,000 patients was exposed. Therefore, it . 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. 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 1. Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. 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. Read More, Great Expressions Dental Center of Georgia, P.C. The case was settled for $200,000. At minimum, the nurse who violated HIPAA will probably have to go on a training course to prevent further violations. Breach News 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. 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 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. Jail Nursing: No Deliberate If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 - $50,000. 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. Mental Health Center Provides Access and Revises Policies and Procedures The settlement stems from an impermissible disclosure in a press release issued by MHHS in September 2015. Convicted of a crime substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of an RN: Without a properly executed agreement, a covered entity may not disclose PHI to its law firm. However, as violations of HIPAA are so severe, then CEs will choose to terminate the . OCR confirmed that PHI had been disclosed without an authorization from the patient and that there had been no sanctions against the physician responsible, despite being warned in advance not to disclose any PHI. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure. The containers had labels that included the PHI of patients. The ePHI of 62,500 patients was exposed. The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. 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. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 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. 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 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. Boston Medical Center agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $100,000. 0:04. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance, but it took 16 months for the records to be provided. Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications jQuery( document ).ready(function($) { 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. A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. 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. Entity Rescinds Improper Charges for Medical Record Copies to Reflect Reasonable, Cost-Based Fees The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $32,150. Improper Disposal HIPAA rules state medical professionals must dispose of PHI in a secure manner. 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. HITECH News Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses 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. The privacy breaches occurred shortly after each other in 2013. Activities considered preparatory to research include: preparing a research protocol; developing a research hypothesis; and identifying prospective research participants. Upon learning of the incident, the hospital placed both employees on leave; the orderly resigned his employment shortly thereafter. Covered Entity: General Hospital QCA Health Plan has agreed to settle the HIPAA violations with OCR for $250,000. National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards According to the Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 112, Section 77, the Board must report disciplinary actions to national data reporting systems. The OCR investigation determined 577 patients had been affected, but Sentara Hospitals refused to update its breach notice to reflect the correct number of patients affected. 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. The case was settled with OCR for $30,000. 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. It took 8 months from the date of the first request for the records to be provided. Some of these were HIPAA violations from employees posting a patient's protected health information (PHI) the social web. While the Privacy Rule may permit the disclosure of an OR schedule containing PHI, in this case, a hospital employee shared the OR scheduled with the complainants supervisor, who was not part of the employee's treatment team, and did not need the information for payment, health care operations, or other permissible purposes. 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 determined its compliance program had been in disarray for several years. 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. A private practice failed to honor an individual's request for a complete copy of her minor son's medical record. 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. 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. Here are the top five misconceptions about FERPA and HIPAA that I regularly address in my work with schools. 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. In 2016, 12 entities agreed to settle their compliance investigations and pay a financial penalty, with one case seeing civil monetary penalties imposed. The new authorization specifies what records and/or portions of the files will be disclosed and the respective authorization will be kept in the patients record, together with the disclosed information. The nurse sent six text messages, warning the man's girlfriend about the disease. Large Medicaid Plan Corrects Vulnerability that Resulted in Dsiclosure to Non-BA Vendors 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. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Business Associates. 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. 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. Read more, Arbour Hospital, a mental health clinic in Boston, MA, failed to provide a patient with the requested medical records within 30 days. 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. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. CHCS will also pay a financial penalty of $650,000. Another potential HIPAA violation that's easily overlooked is discussing information over the phone. Washington, D.C. 20201 Toll Free Call Center: 1-800-368-1019 The new procedures were incorporated into the standard staff privacy training, both as part of a refresher series and mandatory yearly compliance training. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure and the case was settled for $100,000. And when data breaches like this occur, it's usually because of a HIPAA violation. 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. OCR settled the case for $5,000. Read More, Housing Works, Inc. is a New York City-based non-profit healthcare organization that provides healthcare, homeless services, and legal aid support for people affected by HIV/AIDS. Covered Entity: General Hospital 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. 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. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $160,000. Covered Entity: General Hospital Read More, Cancer Care Group, an Indiana-based radiation oncology private physician practice, has agreed to settle with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for $750,000, for potential HIPAA violations relating to a 2012 data breach. 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. Shaila Mae. Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial HHS Read More, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. The HIPAA Journal is the leading provider of news, updates, and independent advice for HIPAA compliance. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages 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 minimum fine is $100 per violation (up to $50,000) for Category 1 violations. The patient had requested a copy of her childs fetal heart monitor records, but 9 months after the request had been submitted the records still had not been provided. "HIPAA applies to schools.". Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. Read More. 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. If an organization fails to take corrective action after having been issued a fine, the HHS Office of Civil Rights can impose subsequent fines. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $65,000. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider OCR investigated and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Rules: A risk analysis failure, risk management failure, lack of information system activity reviews, and insufficient technical policies to prevent unauthorized ePHI access. The firewall was inactive for a period of 10 months leaving the data exposed and potentially accessible to unauthorized third parties for an unacceptable period of time. Memphis Commercial Appeal. Yes. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Safeguards. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility The four categories range from unknowing violations to willful disregard of HIPAA rules. Read More, Fallbrook Family Health Center in Nebraska failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $10,000. Read More, The solo dental practitioner in Butler, PA, failed to provide a patient with a copy of their medical record in a timely manner. CHCS failed to perform a comprehensive risk analysis since September 23, 2013. The records were provided within days of OCR intervening. 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: Case Examples by Covered Entity. 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. 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. HMORevises Process to Obtain Valid Authorizations Read More, MelroseWakefield Healthcare in Massachusetts received a valid request from a personal representative of a patient on June 12, 2020, but it took until October 20, 2020, for the requested records to be provided due to an error regarding the legality of the durable power of attorney. Read More, Phoenix, AZ-based Banner Health is one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. Read More, Family Dental Care, P.C. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the pharmacy revised its policies regarding PHI and retrained its staff. The Center did not, however, provide the complainant with the opportunity to have the denial reviewed, as required by the Privacy Rule. Other than stipulating training should be provided as necessary and appropriate for members of the workforce to carry out their functions (HIPAA Privacy Rule) and that CEs and BAs should implement a security awareness and training program for all members of the workforce (HIPAA Security Rule), there are no specific HIPAA training requirements. OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. Pharmacy Chain Revises Process for Disclosures to Law Enforcement Read More, OCR has announced a $5.5 million settlement had been reached with Florida-based Memorial Healthcare Systems to resolve potential Privacy Rule and Security Rule violations. 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. Delivered via email so please ensure you enter your email address correctly. All rights reserved. The employee responsible for the disclosure received a written disciplinary warning, and both the employee and the physician apologized to the patient. The data breach investigation revealed a substandard security management process and a catalog of HIPAA Security Rule violations. Read More, Parkview Healthcare System has agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement for a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. OCR investigated Peachstate and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. Disciplinary actions are part of the public record. The impermissible disclosures of PHI resulted in a $10,000 settlement. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Safeguards. Among other corrective action taken to resolve this issue, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her records. The Privacy Rule permits the imposition of a reasonable cost-based fee that includes only the cost of copying and postage and preparing an explanation or summary if agreed to by the individual. In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. In the majority of cases, the agency resolves the complaints without the need for an investigation or finds no HIPAA violation exists. Not necessary. Further, the covered entity counseled the supervisor about appropriate use of the medical information of a subordinate. Issue: Access, Restrictions. 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 complaint alleged that an HMO impermissibly disclosed a member's PHI, when it sent her entire medical record to a disability insurance company without her authorization. In addition, OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, a risk management failure, and a lack of device media controls. The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. The above penalties were implemented as demanded by the HITECH Act of 2009 and increase annually in line with inflation. Read More, Lawrence Bell, Jr. D.D.S in Maryland failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. The case was settled for $25,000. HIPAA violation penalties are tiered based on the level of negligence determined by the Department of Health and Human Services or the state attorney general. If a nurse breaches HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse directly for a HIPAA breach. To resolve this matter, OCR also required the practice to revise its policies and operating procedures and to move medical alert stickers to the inside cover of the records. 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. Covered Entity: Private Practice 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. 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. The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. There may be a viable claim, in some cases, under state privacy laws. Listed below are all the OCR HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in a financial penalty. OCR also discovered a business associate failure. Issue: Notice. The case was settled for $3 million. Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research Cornell Pharmacy is a single-location healthcare provider that mostly serves hospice care organizations in Denver and provides compound medications. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and a HIPAA privacy officer had not been appointed. Covered Entity: General Hospital 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. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required that the pharmacy chain implement national policies and procedures to safeguard the log books. Five former Methodist employees have been indicted on charges . Between 2005 and 2019, healthcare data breaches affected nearly 250 million people. Alternatively, financial penalties can be imposed if a breach of ePHI violates state laws. Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. 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. Issue: Access. In some severe cases, yes, nurses can lose their jobs if they violate HIPAA. Radiologist Revises Process for Workers Compensation Disclosures 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. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); Triple S was also required to pay a HIPAA violation penalty of $6.8 million to the Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration for a failure to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acts Privacy Rule last year, although the HIPAA violation fine was reduced to $1.5 million on appeal. Issue: Minimum Necessary; Confidential Communications. At the direction of an insurance company that had requested an independent medical exam of an individual, a private medical practice denied the individual a copy of the medical records. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. Covered Entity: Pharmacies Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records 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. 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. An employee at a mid-size clinic was involved in a suit when an auto collision victim sued her spouse. 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. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure, access control failure, information system activity monitoring failure, and an impermissible disclosure of 6,617 patients ePHI. A complainant alleged that a private practice physician denied her access to her medical records, because the complainant had an outstanding balance for services the physician had provided. Moreover, the entity was required to train of all staff on the revised policy. The acknowledgement form is now included in the intake package of forms. 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. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. In more servers cases, or where multiple violations have occurred, the nurse may lose their job. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . Read More, The settlement relates to the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 2,209 patients in 2011. Skagit County agreed to pay OCR $215,000 following the exposure of data of seven individuals. 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. ACMHS has agreed to settle the case with OCR for $150,000. 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. Covered Entity: Health Plans The records were provided on September 14, 2020. November 16, 2022. 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. The case was settled for $65,000. 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. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. One addressed the issue of minimum necessary information in telephone message content. }); Show Your Employer You Have Completed The Best HIPAA Compliance Training Available With ComplianceJunctions Certificate Of Completion, Learn about the top 10 HIPAA violations and the best way to prevent them, Avoid HIPAA violations due to misuse of social media, Losses to Phishing Attacks Increased by 76% in 2022, Biden Administration Announces New National Cybersecurity Strategy, Settlement Reached in Preferred Home Care Data Breach Lawsuit, BetterHelp Settlement Agreed with FTC to Resolve Health Data Privacy Violations, Amazon Completes Acquisition of OneMedical Amid Concern About Uses of Patient Data, Willful neglect (not corrected within 30 days.