The ePHI of 62,500 patients was exposed. Read More, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences experienced a hacking incident that was reported to OCR in January 2018. The previous record was the $3.5 million settlement with Triple S Management Corporation agreed in November 2015. The case was settled for $1,040,000. Read more, Wake Health Medical Group, a Raleigh, NC-based provider of primary care and other health care services, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records. OCR also determined there had been a risk analysis failure, a failure to implement Privacy Rule policies, and unique IDs had not been provided to all employees to track information system activity. OCR settled the case for $3,500. OCR determined there had been a risk analysis failure, access control failure, information system activity monitoring failure, and an impermissible disclosure of 6,617 patients ePHI. The disclosed information included details of patients visits, treatment, and insurance. Also, computer screens displaying patient information were easily visible to patients. Among other corrective action taken, the Center provided the complainant with a copy of her medical record and revised its policies and procedures to ensure that it provides timely access to all individuals. Social Media HIPAA Violations by Nurses - Law Office of Nicole Irmer 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 outpatient facility reportedly believed that such disclosures were permitted by the Privacy Rule. 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. A settlement of $400,000 was agreed upon with OCR to resolve the HIPAA violations. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint 6 months after the first stating the records had still not been 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. ACMHS has agreed to settle the case with OCR for $150,000. Read More, King MD is a small provider of psychiatric services in Virginia. This was OCRs first settlement under the 2019 HIPAA Right of Access enforcement initiative. 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. NYC Hospital Investigates Nurse for Sharing Video With The Intercept 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. Read more, Renown Health, a not-for-profit healthcare network in Northern Nevada, failed to provide a patients attorney with a copy of her medical and billing records within 30 days. OCR settled the case for $22,500. Taking this into account, the figures OCR is working with are detailed in the table below and will apply indefinitely, until the next increase to account for inflation. Mental Health Center Provides Access after Denial OCR also identified issues with the notice of privacy practices and there was no HIPAA privacy officer. 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 private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. HIPAA Fails Kim Kardashian In 2013, medical employees decided to "Keep Up With The Kardashians," and it cost them their jobs. In addition, the covered entity forwarded the complainant a complete copy of the medical record. The case was settled for $3 million. Technical assistance had previously been provided by OCR, but devices had still not been encrypted. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required the provider to develop and implement policies and procedures regarding appropriate administrative and physical safeguards related to the communication of PHI. 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 $15,000. 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. > All Case Examples, Hospital Implements New Minimum Necessary Polices for Telephone Messages A municipal social service agency disclosed protected health information while processing Medicaid applications by sending consolidated data to computer vendors that were not business associates. Read more, OCR investigated a breach reported by the Department of Veteran Affairs involving a business associate, Authentidate Holding Corporation. 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. Read More, The settlement relates to the impermissible disclosure of the electronic protected health information of 2,209 patients in 2011. Not necessary. Covered Entity: General Hospitals The minimum fine is $100 per violation (up to $50,000) for Category 1 violations. 15+ Real-World Examples of Social Media HIPAA Violations 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 revised policies are applicable to all individual stores in the pharmacy chain. > HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement Read More, QCA Health Plan, Inc. of Arkansas reported the theft of a laptop from a car that contained unencrypted data on 148 patients. Examples of HIPAA Violations by Nurses - HIPAA Coach Read More, Associated Retina Specialists in New York took 5 months to provide a patient with the requested medical records. Fines for "reasonable cause" violations range from $100 to $50,000. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records Regardless of Payment Source 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. The cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2023 is 1.07745, but this has not officially been applied by the HHS. All Case Examples | HHS.gov However, up to 500 cases per year result in a fine and/or corrective action being required. Even posts that seem well-meaning can violate privacy and confidentiality. Covered Entity: Private Practice The Ultimate List of Celebrity HIPAA Violations Etactics 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, Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services (BILHBS) is the largest provider of mental health and substance use disorder services in eastern Massachusetts. Nurse Pleads Guilty to HIPAA Violation | NurseZone - American Mobile The case was settled for $160,000. Read More, All Inclusive Medical Services, Inc. (AIMS) is a Carmichael, CA-based multi-specialty family medicine clinic. A patients rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patients agreement with a covered entity. Covered Entity: Mental Health Center Read More, Wise Psychiatry is a small provider of psychiatric services in Colorado. Since HIPAA's enactment in 1996, we've witnessed almost 20 reported cases of unauthorized personnel looking up the medical records of celebrities. However, as violations of HIPAA are so severe, then CEs will choose to terminate the . HIPAA violation compromises a patient and lands a nurse in hot water Case Examples Organized by Issue | HHS.gov Read more, Rainrock Treatment Center LLC (dba Monte Nido Rainrock), a Eugene, OR-based provider of residential eating disorder treatment services, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records after repeated requests. For example, texting or calling a coworker to ask about a shared patient's case would be a HIPAA violation. The device was not protected by a password and data on the device was not encrypted. Covered Entity: Private Practice Read More, Washington, NC-based Metropolitan Community Health Services is a Federally Qualified Health Center. 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. 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. OCR discovered a risk analysis failure, the lack of a security awareness training program, and a failure to implement HIPAA Security Rule policies and procedures. The investigation confirmed there had been a HIPAA Right of Access failure. Blogs - Skyhigh Security HIPAA Breach Cases 2020 - ComplianceJunction Issue: Safeguards; Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. Convicted of a crime substantially related to the qualifications, functions, and duties of an RN: 4 . The case was settled for $1,250,000. What Is a HIPAA Violation? | Berxi Large Provider Revises Patient Contact Process to Reflect Requests for Confidential Communications 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. If a nurse breaches HIPAA, a patient cannot sue the nurse directly for a HIPAA breach. Numbers at a Glance - Current | HHS.gov 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. 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. 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. Receive weekly HIPAA news directly via email, HIPAA News Issue: Impermissible Use. Read More, CHSPSC LLC isa Tennessee-based management companythat provides services to affiliates of Community Health Systems. Kentucky HIPAA Violation Case Ruling Held by Appeals Court The Worst HIPAA Violation Cases in Medical History A good example of this is a laptop that is stolen. Read more, Dr. Robert Glaser, a New Hyde Park, NY-based cardiovascular disease and internal medicine doctor, failed to provide a patient with timely access to the requested medical records after repeated requests. HIPAA Horror Stories: 5 True HIPAA Violation Cases The complainant alleged that a mental health center (the "Center") refused to provide her with a copy of her medical record, including psychotherapy notes. Read more, Arbour Hospital, a mental health clinic in Boston, MA, failed to provide a patient with the requested medical records within 30 days. A settlement of $85,000 was agreed upon to resolve the violation. OCR determined that there had been an impermissible disclosure of 34,883 patients ePHI due to a lack of encryption. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, OCR required that the pharmacy chain implement national policies and procedures to safeguard the log books. What Happens if a Nurse Violates HIPAA? Updated for 2023 - HIPAA Journal The medical center had also failed to enter into a BAA with a business associate. 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. Read More, A patient submitted a complaint to OCR about an impermissible disclosure of PHI in a mailing. 13 hospital workers fired for snooping in Britney Spears' medical What are the HIPAA Violation Penalties for Nurses? Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures. > Case Examples