nurse hipaa violation cases

Not necessary. 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 . Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations. A violation due to willful neglect which is not corrected within thirty days will attract the maximum fine of $50,000. The details come from . 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. The privacy breaches occurred shortly after each other in 2013. Now add up that time for a week, a month, or even a year. Brigham and Womens Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $384,000. The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. 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. The records were provided on September 14, 2020. A digital photocopier was returned to a leasing company, but the PHI stored on its hard drive had not been erased before the device was returned. 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. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Covered Entity: Private Practices An OCR investigation indicated that the form the HMO relied on to make the disclosure was not a valid authorization under the Privacy Rule. Mental Health Center Corrects Process for Providing Notice of Privacy Practices The patient filed a complaint with OCR and the records were eventually provided more than 10 months later. OCR stepped up enforcement of compliance with the HIPAA Rules in 2016, more than doubling the number of financial penalties. A nurse working at a clinic in New York became one of many HIPAA violation examples when her sister-in-law's boyfriend was diagnosed with an STD (sexually transmitted disease). 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. 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. $("#wpforms-form-28602 .wpforms-submit-container").appendTo(".submit-placement"); 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 pharmacy did not consider the customer's insurance card to be protected health information (PHI). OCR investigated the allegation and found no evidence that the law firm had impermissibly disclosed the customers PHI. Read More, Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services (BILHBS) is the largest provider of mental health and substance use disorder services in eastern Massachusetts. MAPFRE has agreed to a $2,200,000 settlement with OCR. OCR provided technical assistance to the physician, explaining that, in general, the Privacy Rule requires that a covered entity provide an individual access to their medical record within 30 days of a request, regardless of whether or not the individual has a balance due. It took multiple requests and almost 5 months for all of the requested medical records to be provided. Read More, WellPoint is one of the largest providers of Affiliated Health Plans, with almost 36 million policyholders across the United States. OCR investigated the breach and discovered multiple violations of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record Covered Entity: Private Practices Another potential HIPAA violation that's easily overlooked is discussing information over the phone. Background: Inappropriate use of social media necessitates health institutes, academic institutes, nurses and educators to consider occupational ethical principles while creating a policy and guide on the usage of social media. 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. 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. Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case. Another way to prevent HIPAA violations on social media is to get proper compliance training for your staff. Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Disclosures to Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety. For example, texting or calling a coworker to ask about a shared patient's case would be a HIPAA violation. It took 8 months from the date of the first request for the records to be provided. A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. Covered Entity: Private Practice The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Private Practice Revises Access Procedure to Provide Access Despite an Outstanding Balance Issue: Impermissible Disclosure; Confidential Communications. 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. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon to resolve the violation. Read More, Elite Primary Care is a provider of primary health services in Georgia. Employees also were trained to review registration information for patient contact directives regarding leaving messages. OCR received two complaints from patients in 2019 alleging they had to wait several months to receive a copy of their medical records. 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. Corinne S Kennedy. Read More, Lawrence Bell, Jr. D.D.S in Maryland failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical 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, Phoenix, AZ-based Banner Health is one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States. OCR investigated Peachstate and uncovered multiple potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule. Jail Nursing: No Deliberate OCR also determined that the Center denied the complainant's request for access because her therapists believed providing the records to her would likely cause her substantial harm. The case was settled for $3,500. 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 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. The financial consequences of violating HIPAA depend on the level of negligence and if a breach has occurred the number of records potentially exposed by the breach and the risk posed by the unauthorized disclosure: The figures listed above represent the fines that can be imposed by OCR. Read More, The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has announced it has arrived at a settlement with Care New England Health System (CNE) to resolve alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In the first half of 2018, more than 56% of the 4.5 billion compromised data records were from social media incidents. Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' ability to evaluate ethical violations to hypothetical case studies involving social media use. Issue: Impermissible Use. It took 5 months from the initial request for the complete set of medical records to be provided. The Board can report disciplinary actions to other agencies that oversee nursing licenses. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and a HIPAA privacy officer had not been appointed. The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2023 is 1.07745, but this has not officially been applied by the HHS. The. A complaint alleged that an HMO impermissibly disclosed a members PHI, when it sent her entire medical record to a disability insurance company without her authorization. Reports can be filed either through internal channels or electronically through the Department of Health and Human Services. 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 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. 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. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the covered entity to revise its policy. HIPAA Violation Case Settled Between Ambulance Company & OCR for $65,000. 1. 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. It took 225 days from the initial request for the records to be provided. renewals of licenses or APRN authorizations, or both. 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. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations. The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. 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. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages The case was settled for $1,000,000. 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. Read More, Associated Retina Specialists in New York took 5 months to provide a patient with the requested medical records. OCR also found the Notice of Privacy Practices to be inadequate. Cornell Pharmacy is a single-location healthcare provider that mostly serves hospice care organizations in Denver and provides compound medications. The case was settled for $200,000. Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. Read More, An investigation into Anthem Incs massive 78.8 million-record data breach of 2015 revealed multiple HIPAA violations. OCR investigated and discovered similar privacy violations had occurred responding to patient reviews. Covered Entity: Multi-Hospital Healthcare Provider HITECH News If not, the form is invalid and any information released to a third party would be in violation of HIPAA regulations. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $30,000. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. CHCS failed to perform a comprehensive risk analysis since September 23, 2013. The infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. Issue: Safeguards. OCR Imposes a $2.15 Million Civil Money Penalty against Jackson Health System for HIPAA Violations - October 23, 2019 Dental Practice Pays $10,000 to Settle Social Media Disclosures of Patients' Protected Health Information - October 2, 2019 OCR Settles First Case in HIPAA Right of Access Initiative - September 9, 2019 OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. 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. 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. 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. A violation due to willful neglect which is corrected within thirty days will attract a fine of between $10,000 and $50,000. A settlement of $500,000 was agreed upon to resolve the alleged HIPAA violations. In addition, the covered entity forwarded the complainant a complete copy of the medical record. OCR determined this violated the HIPAA Right of Access provision of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms St. Joseph Health has agreed to pay OCR $2,140,500. HMORevises Process to Obtain Valid Authorizations There are two key events to consider when looking at the timeline of penalties for HIPAA violations the passage of the HITECH Act in 2009 which reversed the burden of proof for HIPAA violations, and the HIPAA Omnibus Rule in 2013 which enacted the passage of the HITECH Act making business associates liable for HIPAA violations that were their fault. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . Honolulu-based Hawaii Pacific Health fired an employee in March after discovering the employee had inappropriately accessed patient medical records between November 2014 and January 2020. Covered Entity: General Hospital A hospital employee's supervisor accessed, examined, and disclosed an employee's medical record. Serious violations, even if the intent is not malicious, are likely to result in disciplinary action. All rights reserved. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $32,150. 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. 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. Radiologist Revises Process for Workers Compensation Disclosures Washington, D.C. 20201 Entity Rescinds Improper Charges for Medical Record Copies to Reflect Reasonable, Cost-Based Fees OCR settled the case for $20,000. 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. > Case Examples Nope. To avoid these, a proactive approach should include a regular risk assessment and corrective action plan. In fact, even a competent healthcare facility will experience minor HIPAA violation cases at some point. Toll Free Call Center: 1-800-368-1019 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. Resolution Agreements. 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. As HIPAA violations are so severe, and may result in huge fines for Covered Entities, if . 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. 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. Advocate Health Care Network will pay a record $5.55 million to settle multiple potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Listed below are all the OCR HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in a financial penalty. HHS Covered Entity: Private Practice 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. 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. Hospital Revises Email Distribution as a Result of a Disclosure to Persons Without a "Need to Know" 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. As of July 2022, there have been 38 HIPAA Right of Access cases under this compliance initiative that resulted in financial penalties. 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 The device contained a range of patients ePHI, including full names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. 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. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violation. Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents, the hospital undertook a complete review of the distribution of the OR schedule. A settlement was agreed upon with OCR that included a $25,000 penalty. 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. . Further, the covered entity's Privacy Officer and other representatives met with the patient and apologized, and followed the meeting with a written apology. The case was settled for $1,040,000. Additionally, OCR required the covered entity to revise its Notice of Privacy Practices. The hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new procedures. the practice settled the case with OCR for $80,000. The penalties for HIPAA violations through the OCR are as follows: Tier 1: Minimum fine of $100 per violation, up to $50,000 Tier 2: Minimum fine of $1,000 per violation, up to $50,000 Tier 3: Minimum fine of $10,000 per violation, up to $50,000 Tier 4: Minimum fine of $50,000 per violation The case was settled for $2.175 million. 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. Failure to report a violation could have serious consequences. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. 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. This will have long-lasting ramifications. Read More, Washington, NC-based Metropolitan Community Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center. Issue: Access. A violation of HIPAA attributable to ignorance can attract a fine of $100 - $50,000. OCR settled the case for $55,000. National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards 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. A private practice failed to honor an individual's request for a complete copy of her minor son's medical record. Content created by Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Content last reviewed December 23, 2022. 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. The practice trained all staff on the newly developed policies and procedures. 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. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. Read More, Memorial Hermann Health System in Texas received five requests from a patient for complete records to be provided between June 2019 and January 2020. 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. 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. 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. Boston Medical Center agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $100,000. The case was settled for $850,000. And when data breaches like this occur, it's usually because of a HIPAA violation. Office for Civil Rights Headquarters. There are four tiers of HIPAA violation penalties for nurses, ranging from unknowing violations to willful neglect of HIPAA Rules.

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