nurse hipaa violation cases

The maximum financial penalty, for willful neglect of the HIPAA Rules, is $1.5 million, per violation category, per year. The ePHI of 62,500 patients was exposed. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Issue: Access. The data breach investigation revealed a substandard security management process and a catalog of HIPAA Security Rule violations. The Phoenix, Arizona-based non-profit health system, Banner Health, experienced a hacking incident that resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the PHI of 2.81 million individuals in 2016. OCR settled the case for $65,000. 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. Nurses who deliberately obtain or disclose individually identifiable protected health information can face a fine of up to $50,000 and a maximum of 12 months in jail. Read More, Brigham and Womens 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. Covered Entity: Pharmacies Allergy Associates of Hartford paid OCR $125,000 to settle the alleged HIPAA violations. Cornell Pharmacy is a single-location healthcare provider that mostly serves hospice care organizations in Denver and provides compound medications. Between October 23, 2009, and March 7, 2010 part of its database of policyholders was accessible to unauthorized individuals. Brigham and Womens Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $384,000. Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI 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. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers 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. 6) Keep Thoughts to Yourself. There are four tiers of HIPAA violation penalties for nurses, ranging from unknowing violations to willful neglect of HIPAA Rules. The infection resulted in the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 1,670 individuals. Listed below are all the OCR HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in a financial penalty. 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. 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. Issue: Access. 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. Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena Paige. A study found that the average person spends about 52 minutes per day engaging in this type of conversation. CHCS failed to perform a comprehensive risk analysis since September 23, 2013. The case was settled for $100,000. 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. During OCRs investigation, the physician confirmed that the complainant was not given access to her medical record because of the outstanding balance. 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 Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. In many cases, records were only provided after OCR intervened. Hospital Revises Email Distribution as a Result of a Disclosure to Persons Without a "Need to Know" 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 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). The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OR for $75,000. Nurses may violate HIPAA if they use non-approved channels to transmit patient information. FileFax agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations for $100,000. 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. OCR settled the case for $50,000. A public hospital, in response to a subpoena (not accompanied by a court order), impermissibly disclosed the protected health information (PHI) of one of its patients. The records were provided on September 14, 2020. Question: Dear Nancy, Can an RN lose his or her nursing license over a HIPAA violation? Unprotected storage of private health information can be an issue. 3. 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. When notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. Issue: Access, Authorization. Regulatory Changes Contacting individuals to participate in a research study is a use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for recruitment, as it is part of the research and is not an activity preparatory to research. Private Practice Implements Safeguards for Waiting Rooms Delaware Co. June 5, 2012). 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. The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. 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. 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 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. 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. Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. HIPAA Journal states that if a nurse violates HIPAA, it is important that the incident is reported to the person responsible for HIPAA compliance in your facility or your supervisor. 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. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint two months later when the records had still not been provided. During the investigation, OCR discovered the business associate had acquired Peachstate, a CLIA-certified laboratory that provides clinical and genetic testing services. . 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. OCR intervened and provided technical assistance on the HIPAA Right of Access but received a second complaint when the practice continued to deny him access. There are four tiers of HIPAA violation penalties for nurses, ranging from unknowing violations to willful neglect of HIPAA Rules. OCR received two complaints from patients in 2019 alleging they had to wait several months to receive a copy of their medical records. 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, The settlement relates to the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 2,209 patients in 2011. An employee's medical record is protected by the Privacy Rule, even though employment records held by a covered entity in its role as employer are not. After the investigation, Ms D was informed that she was being terminated from her job based on her violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) for . 0:57. In April 2019, OCR reexamined the HITECH Act and determined the language had been misinterpreted and issued a Notice of Enforcement Discretion stating the maximum annual penalties in each penalty tier would be changed to reflect the seriousness of the violations. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages 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 addition, the covered entity forwarded the complainant a complete copy of the medical record. An ABC crew was permitted to film inside NYP facilities for the show NY Med featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz. Entity Rescinds Improper Charges for Medical Record Copies to Reflect Reasonable, Cost-Based Fees The settlement resolves HIPAA violations that contributed to the university experiencing a malware infection in 2013. The Board can report disciplinary actions to other agencies that oversee nursing licenses. The records were provided within days of OCR intervening. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate nurses' ability to evaluate ethical violations to hypothetical case studies involving social media use. For one violation, fines can range from $100-$50,000 for each instance of wrongdoing. Case Examples. Fresenius Medical Care North America settled the case for $3,500,000. In addition, the employee who made the disclosure was counseled and given a written warning. Memorial Hermann Health System has agreed to pay OCR $2,400,000. Covered Entity: Health Plans Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the hospital to develop and implement a policy regarding disclosures related to serious threats to health and safety, and to train all members of the hospital staff on the new policy. 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. 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. }); 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. The case was settled for $2.175 million. The case was settled with OCR and a 23,000 financial penalty was imposed. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon to resolve the violation. OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and there was no HIPAA privacy officer. 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. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 - $50,000. So-mogye v. Toledo Clinic, 2012 WL 2191279 (N.D. Ohio, June 14, 2012). 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. The case was settled for $1,040,000. 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. Read More, Family Dental Care, P.C. 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. > HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement Issue: Safeguards. Read More, WellPoint is one of the largest providers of Affiliated Health Plans, with almost 36 million policyholders across the United States. In case you aren't sure what I mean regarding judgment and professional boundaries: Nurses need to avoid the appearance of impropriety. State Attorney Generals can also impose financial penalties on HIPAA-covered entities and business associates for violations of the HIPAA Rules. Five Memphis healthcare workers charged with conspiracy, HIPAA violations. The case was settled for $100,000. 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. Educators worry about the confidentiality of all student information, particularly the data relied upon in developing and implementing IEPs and Section 504 plans, often on account of "HIPAA . Cancel Any Time. Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. The cost of employer HIPAA violations in the supreme court ranges from $100 to $50,000 based on a variety of factors, including: Whether or not there was malicious intent (civil vs. criminal penalties) The degree of negligence If a doctor violates HIPAA, including inadvertent disclosure If a breach occurred OCR determined the failure to terminate access rights when employment had ended was in violation of the HIPAA Security Rule. 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. 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. OCR stepped up enforcement of compliance with the HIPAA Rules in 2016, more than doubling the number of financial penalties. The case was settled for $65,000. The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. Covered Entity: Multi-Hospital Healthcare Provider 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. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $32,150. National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards The case was ultimately unsuccessful; the court ruled in favor of the nurse. Read More, In March 2019, OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged she had not been provided with a copy of her medical records in the requested electronic format despite making repeated requests. 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 directory contained files that included the protected health information (PHI) of 307,839 individuals. The nurse received the board notice for a hearing and the allegations against her, which involved breaching her duty to protect the patients' confidentiality and privacy rights in violation of the state's nurse practice act and administrative rules. Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research 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 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. 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. CHCS will also pay a financial penalty of $650,000. A radiology practice that interpreted a hospital patients imaging tests submitted a workers compensation claim to the patients employer. 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. Here are the top five misconceptions about FERPA and HIPAA that I regularly address in my work with schools. It took 564 days from the initial request for all of the records to be provided to the patient. 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 trial court noted that HIPAA does not create a private right of action, but instead requires that violations be pursued via administrative channels (ie: by filing a complaint with HHS). 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. 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. 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. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. CNE is required to pay a financial penalty of $400,000 and must adopt a comprehensive Corrective Action Plan (CAP) to address various areas of HIPAA non-compliance. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $5,000. OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. 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. 2021 HIPAA Right of Access Enforcement Actions Other 2021 HIPAA Violation Penalties 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. However, up to 500 cases per year result in a fine and/or corrective action being required. The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. 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 . After OCR intervened, the records were provided, but it took 22 months from the initial date of the request. > HIPAA Home Health Plan Corrects Computer Flaw that Caused Mailing of EOBs to Wrong Persons Upon learning of the incident, the hospital placed both employees on leave; the orderly resigned his employment shortly thereafter. The consequences of violating HIPAA can be significant and it is important to note fines for a HIPAA violation can be applied by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) even if no breach of PHI has occurred. The office informed all its employees of the incident and counseled staff on proper faxing procedures. 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. As of July 2022, there have been 38 HIPAA Right of Access cases under this compliance initiative that resulted in financial penalties. It took 225 days from the initial request for the records to be provided. 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. The case was settled for $1,000,000. Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record Physician Revises Faxing Procedures to Safeguard PHI OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure and the case was settled for $100,000. Prison Time for Scheme to Frame Nurse for HIPAA Violations. Therefore you should assess employees security awareness as part of a risk analysis to see if more training is required. 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. 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. 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. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. Talking about a patient in a public area where others can hear you is a HIPAA violation. Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. 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. One addressed the issue of minimum necessary information in telephone message content. The case was settled for $3 million. 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. A doctor's office disclosed a patient's HIV status when the office mistakenly faxed medical records to the patient's place of employment instead of to the patient's new health care provider.