March 29, 2022 Dental practices are no longer flying under the radar! The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) just concluded its twenty-seventh enforcement action since the HIPAA Right of Access Initiative began in 2019. Totaling over $170,000 across four penalties, the announcement of the verdicts includes two cases as part of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The additional actions related to the disclosure of patients’ protected health information (PHI). Here is a brief breakdown of the three dental cases just released by HHS: The first dental action includes a $30,000 settlement against the initially cited $104,000 for failure to comply with the Right of Access provision stating covered entities must permit individuals to inspect and obtain a copy of their PHI. Nearly two-and-a-half years from the time of citation, the practice has completed a package of action plans, creating a costly and lengthy resolution process. Something as simple as Google review responses can get you fined! One provider learned the hard way the dos and don’ts of reputation management. A patient filed a complaint with the OCR after the provider included the patient’s full name and PHI in their review response. This cost the practice a whopping $50,000! Not the usual politician slip up, but a recent provider running for office learned not to mix business and pleasure. As part of his political campaign, the provider shared names and addresses of over 5,000 patients with both his campaign manager and third-party marketing partner to distribute letters and emails. Resulting in a final citation of $62,500, this surely put a roadblock on his campaign trail! As we see the OCR cracking down on their HIPAA Right of Access Initiative across dental practices, we encourage you to ensure you have the right HIPAA compliance measures in place. With an hour of your time, we will get you everything you need. How much is an hour of your time worth – we bet it’s not $170,000!
