A settlement of $500,000 was agreed upon to resolve the alleged HIPAA violations. Read More, An investigation into Anthem Incs massive 78.8 million-record data breach of 2015 revealed multiple HIPAA violations. Among other corrective action taken to resolve this issue, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her records. Disastrous HIPAA Violation Cases | 7 Cases to Learn From Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research OCRs investigation revealed periodic technical and non-technical evaluations of operational changes affecting the security of their electronic PHI had not been performed, procedures had not been implemented to verify the identity of individuals accessing their ePHI, there was a lack of ePHI safeguards, and Aetna had violated the minimum necessary standard. What are the HIPAA Violation Penalties for Nurses? We've aggregated the ultimate list of reported celebrity HIPAA violations. All staff was trained on the revised procedures. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. Paige. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required this chain to revise its national policy regarding law enforcement's access to patient protected health information to comply with the Privacy Rule requirements, including that disclosures of protected health information to law enforcement only be made in response to written requests from law enforcement officials, unless state law requires otherwise. The nurse explained that the two individuals whose . Convicted of a crime substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of an RN: 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. Among other corrective actions to remedy this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena processing procedures. 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. The case was settled for $10,000. 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. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. 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. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged AIMS refused to give her a copy of her medical records. (PDF) HIPAA violations among nursing students: Teachable - ResearchGate Delaware Co. June 5, 2012). The maximum financial penalty, for willful neglect of the HIPAA Rules, is $1.5 million, per violation category, per year. HHS 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. One of the most common HIPAA violations is a result of lost company devices. 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. Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. The revised policies are applicable to all individual stores in the pharmacy chain. RN breaches patient confidentiality policy to check work schedule Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the HMO created a new HIPAA-compliant authorization form and implemented a new policy that directs staff to obtain patient signatures on these forms before responding to any disclosure requests, even if patients bring in their own authorization form. 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. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. The pharmacy did not consider the customer's insurance card to be protected health information (PHI). The case was settled for $15,000. Read More, A patient of Elite Dental Associates submitted a complaint to OCR stating her PHI had been disclosed by Elite Dental Associates in response to a review on Yelp. 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. Read More, The HHS has announced that Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to settle a case with the Office for Civil Rights over alleged HIPAA violations following a data breach that occurred in October 2011. The case was settled for $38,000. 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 hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new procedures. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights announced a new HIPAA settlement to resolve violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Read More, Steven A. Porter, M.D.s gastroenterological practice in Ogden, UT reported a breach to OCR involving a medical record company that was blocking access to patients ePHI until a bill was paid. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon to resolve the violation. OCR investigated and found multiple potential HIPAA violations such as the failure to conduct a thorough risk analysis, risk management failures, and insufficient mechanisms to identify suspicious network activity. 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. Read More, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences experienced a hacking incident that was reported to OCR in January 2018. 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: Impermissible Use and Disclosure. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. It took 5 months from the initial request for the complete set of medical records to be provided. According to the Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 112, Section 77, the Board must report disciplinary actions to national data reporting systems. The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. 3 Examples of HIPAA Violation Cases Example #1: When it comes to HIPAA, curiosity can kill the cat or your career. In 2012 it suffered a security breach that exposed the data of 2,700 individuals as a result of a malware infection. 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. 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. Also, computer screens displaying patient information were easily visible to patients. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 - $50,000. A settlement of $150,000 has been reached with OCR. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. A covered entitys obligation to comply with all requirements of the Privacy Rule cannot be conditioned on the patients silence. Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm 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 national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. 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 nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. HIPAA Journal's goal is to assist HIPAA-covered entities achieve and maintain compliance with state and federal regulations governing the use, storage and disclosure of PHI and PII. Improper Disposal HIPAA rules state medical professionals must dispose of PHI in a secure manner. Read More, A $2.5 million settlement has been agreed upon with CardioNet to resolve potential HIPAA 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. New York and Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and Columbia University (CU) will jointly pay a penalty of $4,800,000. In many cases, records were only provided after OCR intervened. Yes. The investigation confirmed there had been a HIPAA Right of Access failure. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . 2020-2021 HIPAA Violation Cases and Penalties - HIPAA Journal OCR investigated the incident and discovered risk analysis and risk management failures, insufficient information system activity logging and monitoring, missing business associate agreements, and employees had not been provided with HIPAA Privacy Rule training. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider PDF HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . A penalty of $2.7 million will be paid by OHSU to settle alleged HIPAA violations without admission of liability. Five Memphis healthcare workers charged with conspiracy, HIPAA violations. The claim included the patients test results. Disciplinary action taken by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in An OCR investigation also indicated that the confidential communications requirements were not followed, as the employee left the message at the patients home telephone number, despite the patients instructions to contact her through her work number. OCR clarified that an individual's health insurance card meets the statutory definition of PHI and, as such, needs to be safeguarded. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, a letter of reprimand was placed in the supervisor's personnel file and the supervisor received additional training about the Privacy Rule. Read more, Ridgewood, NJ-based Village Plastic Surgeryfailed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. > HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement 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 records were provided on September 14, 2020. To resolve the issues in this case, the hospital developed and implemented several new procedures. Gossip HIPAA Violations: When, Where, How and Why Etactics OCR's investigation confirmed that the use and disclosure of protected health information by the supervisor was not authorized by the employee and was not otherwise permitted by 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. Termination for Nurse HIPAA Violation Upheld by Court A violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 $50,000. A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. HIPAA Violations: Examples, Penalties + 5 Cases to Learn From - Secureframe Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has agreed to a $650,000 settlement with University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). The case was settled for $25,000. Issue: Safeguards. 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. 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. The medical center had also failed to enter into a BAA with a business associate. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 $50,000. The case was contested, but an administrative law judge ruled in favor of OCR. Some of these were accidental. Detailed below is a summary of all HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in settlements with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR), including cases that have been pursued by OCR after potential HIPAA violations were discovered during data breach investigations, and investigations of complaints submitted by patients and healthcare employees. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $70,000. 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. Patient Sues Clinician for Privacy Violation After Practice Responds to The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations. Mental Health Center Corrects Process for Providing Notice of Privacy Practices Data were accessed by unknown third parties after ePHI data was unwittingly transferred to a server accessible to the public. Covered Entity: General Hospitals What happens if a nurse violates HIPAA? - HIPAA Guide OCR determined this breached the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. And when data breaches like this occur, it's usually because of a HIPAA violation. For example, texting or calling a coworker to ask about a shared patient's case would be a HIPAA violation. 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. A Nurse's Guide to the Use of Social Media discusses the case of a hospice nurse whose cancer patient had posted about her depression. QCA Health Plan has agreed to settle the HIPAA violations with OCR for $250,000. 0:04. 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. Court Holds Up Termination for Nurse HIPAA Violation Read More, Coastal Ear, Nose, and Throat in Florida received a request from a patient for a copy of medical records on December 15, 2020, and again on January 8, 2021, but the records were not provided until May 20, 2021. 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. 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. A good example of this is a laptop that is stolen. renewals of licenses or APRN authorizations, or both. Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain Case Examples. Anthem agreed to a record-breaking settlement of $16,000,000 to resolve the case. The settlement for HIPAA violations was reached with SEMC for violations that lead to a document sharing system data breach that exposed 498 records, and a data breach involving the theft of a flash drive containing unencrypted data of 595 patients. However, as violations of HIPAA are so severe, then CEs will choose to terminate the . Criminal violations of HIPAA Rules are dealt with by the U.S. Department of Justice. Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility 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. Issue: Access, A patient alleged that a covered entity failed to provide him access to his medical records. OCRs investigation revealed that: the hospital distributed an Operating Room (OR) schedule to employees via email; the hospitals OR schedule contained information about the complainants upcoming surgery. 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. PHI had been intentionally provided to the media on three separate occasions. Skagit County agreed to pay OCR $215,000 following the exposure of data of seven individuals. A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. When state laws are violated, the individuals whose ePHI has been compromised may be able to take legal action against the breached entity if it can be proven that an individual has suffered harm due to the negligence of a Covered Entity or Business Associate. 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. Social media use and ethics violations: Nurses' responses to OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. Covered Entity: Health Plans 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. 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. Covered Entity: Private Practice Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms MIE also settled a multi-state action with state attorneys general and paid a penalty of $900,000. If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. In addition, OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, a risk management failure, and a lack of device media controls. Read More, Mountlake Terrace, WA-based Premera Blue Cross is the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest. 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. 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. Fresenius Medical Care North America settled the case for $3,500,000. 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. It took 8 months from the date of the first request for the records to be provided. 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 case was settled for $202,400. 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. Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses OCR intervened but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. 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. The containers had labels that included the PHI of patients. 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. There are four tiers of HIPAA violation penalties for nurses, ranging from unknowing violations to willful neglect of HIPAA Rules. 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. Providence Health & Services. The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") improperly provided her records to her auto insurance company and refused to provide her with a copy of her medical records. The data breach exposed the Protected Health Information of 55,000 patients. 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, 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. Covered Entity: General Hospital Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record Issue: Access. 4) Loss or Theft of Devices. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. 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 Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations. Office for Civil Rights Headquarters. Read more, Childrens Hospital & Medical Center (CHMC), a pediatric care provider in Omaha, Nebraska, received a request from a parent for access to her daughters medical records but only provided part of the requested information, despite repeated requests. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $32,150.