nurse hipaa violation cases

OCR settled the case for $22,500. Read More, Presence Health, one of the largest healthcare networks serving residents of Illinois, has agreed to pay OCR $475,000 to settle potential HIPAA Breach Notification Rule violations. 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, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. The case was settled for $38,000. 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. Read More, Hillcrest Nursing and Rehabilitation in Massachusetts received a request from a parent for her sons medical records onMarch 22, 2020, but the records were not provided until October 10, 2020. OCR settled the case for $20,000. 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. The case was settled for $10,000. Social Media Posts Could Have Consequences for Your Career The case was settled for $25,000. Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena OCR required the covered entity to cease using the patient agreement that conditioned the entitys compliance with the Privacy Rule. ACMHS has agreed to settle the case with OCR for $150,000. Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record In addition, OCR determined there had been risk analysis failures, a risk management failure, and a lack of device media controls. Serious violations, even if the intent is not malicious, are likely to result in disciplinary action. Common HIPAA Violations with Examples | Inspired eLearning The case was settled for $202,400. Question: Dear Nancy, Can an RN lose his or her nursing license over a HIPAA violation? Covered Entity: Mental Health Center 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. Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial CHCS will also pay a financial penalty of $650,000. Violating HIPAA law can result in fines, job termination, loss of licensure, and criminal charges. An ABC crew was permitted to film inside NYP facilities for the show NY Med featuring Dr. Mehmet Oz. 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. A patient alleged that a general hospital disclosed protected health information when a hospital staff person left a message on the patients home phone answering machine, thereby failing to accommodate the patients request that communications of PHI be made only through her mobile or work phones. 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 UMMC has also agreed to adopt a corrective action plan (CAP) to bring privacy and security standards up to the level required by HIPAA. The case was settled for $62,500. HIPAA News Releases | HHS.gov Covered Entity: Private Practices Sentara Hospitals reported the breach to OCR as having impacted 8 individuals. Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses In addition, the covered entity forwarded the complainant a complete copy of the medical record. Read More, Danbury Psychiatric Consultants in Massachusetts received a request for medical records on March 24, 2020, but access to the records was refused due to an outstanding bill. District of Ohio dismissed her case. 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. OCR settled the case for $240,000. 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. 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. 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). PDF HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts 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. The minimum fine is $100 per violation (up to $50,000) for Category 1 violations. Although the Center gave the complainant the opportunity to review her medical record, this did not negate the Centers obligation to provide the complainant with a copy of her records. The case was settled for $6,850,000. In response, the hospital instituted a number of actions to achieve compliance with the Privacy Rule. It took 5 months from the initial request for the complete set of medical records to be provided. By 2011, the UCLA Health System would agree to pay a fine of $865,000 to settle HIPAA privacy violations at its three hospitals. 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. 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. On September 29, 2011, a portable USB storage device (pen drive) was left overnight in the IT Department from where it was stolen. The impermissible disclosures of PHI resulted in a $10,000 settlement. The patient filed a complaint with OCR and the records were eventually provided more than 10 months later. HITECH News Listed below are all the OCR HIPAA violation cases that have resulted in a financial penalty. 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. Issue: Impermissible Disclosure; Confidential Communications. Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers > HIPAA Home What Is a HIPAA Violation? | Berxi HIPAA Violations Among Nursing Students: Teaching Moment or Terminal 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. Read More, Associated Retina Specialists in New York took 5 months to provide a patient with the requested medical records. The case was settled for $3 million. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. The table above will be updated when the new penalty amounts for 2023 are finalized by the HHS. Read More, Great Expressions Dental Center of Georgia, P.C. 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. Nurse Pleads Guilty to HIPAA Violation | NurseZone - American Mobile The Notice of Enforcement Discretion only applied a cap to each violation tier. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $70,000. Covered Entity: General Hospital 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. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider The Most Common HIPAA Violations in the Workplace - Factorial HIPAA Violations: Nurse Looked At Her Mother's, Sister's Charts, Termination Upheld. A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. OCR settled the case for $5,000. 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 nurse explained that the two individuals whose . Under the revised process, if a subpoena is received that does not meet the requirements of the Privacy Rule, the information is not disclosed; instead, the hospital contacts the party seeking the subpoena and the requirements of the Privacy Rule are explained. A physician practice requested that patients sign an agreement entitled Consent and Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy. The agreement prohibited the patient from directly or indirectly publishing or airing commentary about the physician, his expertise, and/or treatment in exchange for the physicians compliance with the Privacy Rule. OCR determined its compliance program had been in disarray for several years. OCR investigated and found multiple violations of the HIPAA Rules including a delayed response to a known security breach, risk analysis and risk management failures, and a lack of procedures to monitor information system activity logs. Mental Health Center Provides Access and Revises Policies and Procedures CHCS failed to perform a comprehensive risk analysis since September 23, 2013. Also, computer screens displaying patient information were easily visible to patients. 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Covered Entity: Multi-Hospital Healthcare Provider OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged he had been denied access to his 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. While the amendment provisions of the Privacy Rule permit a covered entity to deny an individual's request for an amendment when the covered entity did not create that the portion of the record subject to the request for amendment, no similar provision limits individuals' rights to access their protected health information. 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. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the outpatient facility to: revise its written policies and procedures regarding disclosures of PHI for research recruitment purposes to require valid written authorizations; retrain its entire staff on the new policies and procedures; log the disclosure of the patient's PHI for accounting purposes; and send the patient a letter apologizing for the impermissible disclosure. After OCR intervened, the records were provided, but it took 22 months from the initial date of the request. The data breach exposed the Protected Health Information of 55,000 patients. Within the space of three months, the protected health information of over 7,000 patients was exposed. 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. 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. OCR issued a written analysis and a demand for compliance. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a year later alleging the records had still not been provided. A violation that occurred despite reasonable vigilance can attract a fine of $1,000 $50,000. The failure to cooperate with the investigation and respond to an administrative subpoena resulted in a civil monetary penalty of $50,000. 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. Improper Disposal HIPAA rules state medical professionals must dispose of PHI in a secure manner. Covered Entity: Health Care Provider Shaila Mae. 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. Copyright 2014-2023 HIPAA Journal. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice said Jeffrey Parker of Rincon . HIPAA Advice, Email Never Shared OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged AIMS refused to give her a copy of her medical records. A penalty of $2.7 million will be paid by OHSU to settle alleged HIPAA violations without admission of liability. 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. Read More, For only the second time in its history, OCR has ordered a HIPAA-covered entity to pay civil monetary penalties for HIPAA violations. Read More, OCR has just announced it has agreed to the largest ever HIPAA settlement with a single covered entity. HIPAA breaches in 2019: A year in review Read More, Idaho State Universitys Pocatello Family Medicine Clinic disabled the firewall that was protecting a server containing the medical health records of 17,500 patients. 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. Case Examples. OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000. Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary. 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 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. Fines for "reasonable cause" violations range from $100 to $50,000. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OCR for $5,000. 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. National Pharmacy Chain Extends Protections for PHI on Insurance Cards By Jill McKeon. An OCR investigation confirmed allegations that a dental practice flagged some of its medical records with a red sticker with the word "AIDS" on the outside cover, and that records were handled so that other patients and staff without need to know could read the sticker. 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. OCR found that the owner of the practice had responded to several reviews and disclosed ePHI, even disclosing the names of patients in the responses who had chosen to post reviews anonymously. 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 nurse in question sent out six text messages to warn the patient's girlfriend about his STD. Covered Entity: Private Practice I personally would not expect a student to fully understand these things; correction and education would be in order rather than exaggerating the offenses to the level of HIPAA violation. 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. Large Medicaid Plan Corrects Vulnerability that Resulted in Dsiclosure to Non-BA Vendors Read More, Office for Civil Rights has announced a settlement of $1,215,780 has been reached with Affinity Health Plan, Inc., to resolve potential HIPAA violations discovered during a breach investigation. The chain acknowledged that log books contained protected health information and implemented the required changes. Toll Free Call Center: 1-800-368-1019 Had software patches been installed on the computers the malware would not have been unable to infect the PCs. The Ultimate List of Celebrity HIPAA Violations Etactics

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