Fines

September 15, 2020 Earlier today the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced five HIPAA settlements (yes, you heard that right, five) breaking the record for total HIPAA settlements in one day.  Since 2019 the OCR has honed in on their HIPAA Right of Access Initiative, prioritizing patient’s ability to access their medical records in a timely manner. These five settlements bring the total to seven access related enforcement actions – so if you need any hints on what to make sure your practice is looking out for, this is it.    1. Housing Works Inc. This $38,000 fine resulted from a complaint received by the OCR last July alleging that Housing Works Inc., a New York City based non-profit organization, failed to provide the complainant with a copy of their medical records. The OCR received a second complaint a month later stating that the practice still hadn’t provided the patient with record access (strike number two) which ultimately led to a hefty fine along with a corrective action plan.   2. All Inclusive Medical Service, Inc. This Carmichael, CA based medical practice agreed to a $15,000 fine and corrective action plan after the OCR received a complaint in April 2018 that the practice had denied patient access to inspect and receive a copy of her records in January 2018. Only after the OCR’s investigation was the patient given access to her records – 32 months (almost three years) after she had initially requested.   3. Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services (BILHBS) This whopping $70,000 HIPAA settlement came from a complaint alleging that the behavioral health corporation failed to respond to a request from a personal representative seeking access to her father’s medical records in February 2019. The OCR investigation found that BILHBS failed to complete the request which meant a costly violation of HIPAA Right of Access.  4. Wise Psychiatry, PC This Psychiatry Practice based in Colorado agreed to a $10,000 settlement along with a corrective action plan after the OCR received a patient right of access complaint related to not providing a personal representative with access to their minor son’s medical records in February of 2018. The OCR provided the practice with technical assistance and closed the complaint just a few months later, but Wise Psychiatry found themselves back on the OCR’s radar in October 2018 when a second complaint from the same individual was filed noting records still had not been received. It wasn’t until May 2019 that the patient records were finally provided.  5. King MD Last but not least (actually, we take that back, this is the smallest HIPAA fine to date), Patricia King MD & Associates – a psychiatric care provider in Chesapeake, Virginia – agreed to pay a $3,500 fine along with adopting a corrective action plan to settle a potential HIPAA right of access violation. In October of 2018, the OCR received a complaint that the practice had failed to respond to an individual’s request to record access in August 2018. After the OCR provided them with technical assistance the complaint was closed. However, in February 2019, the OCR received a second complaint stating that King MD had still failed to provide the same patient with proper access and as a result, the practice was hit with a violation.   The main takeaways? Well if it isn’t already obvious, providing patients with timely access to their medical records is extremely important and is something that is commonly missed by practices. While Patient Right of Access is an enforcement priority for the OCR, that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing you have to watch out for. OCR Director Roger Severino emphasized in the announcement that, “Today’s announcement is about empowering patients and holding health care providers accountable for failing to take their HIPAA obligations seriously enough.”  If you needed any more reason to get HIPAA compliance to the top of your priority list – 5 violation settlements announced all in one day should do the trick.      

July 27, 2020 Even in the midst of COVID-19, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) hasn’t let up on finding and enforcing HIPAA violations. Within just this past week, both a small healthcare provider along with a larger health system found themselves facing HIPAA violations that resulted in hefty fines – $25,000 and $1.04 million, respectively – as well as extensive corrective action plans.  Continued Disregard for HIPAA A small practice based out of North Carolina, Metropolitan Community Health Services (d/b/a Agape Health Services) filed their initial breach report all the way back in 2011 when there was an impermissible disclosure of PHI to an unknown email account. While the violation may have been triggered by an impermissible disclosure of protected health information (PHI), the OCR’s hammer was brought down in large part by the practice’s continued disregard for HIPAA requirements and protections for their patient’s PHI. The disclosure impacted over 1,000 patients and the practice’s report opened the doors to an OCR investigation of their entire HIPAA program. The investigation shed light on the practice’s failure to comply with various HIPAA Security Rule regulations, including: Even after reporting the breach in 2011, the practice didn’t implement these missing HIPAA requirements in any hurry. Staff weren’t trained properly on HIPAA until 2016 – five years after the initial complaint was reported. The lack of progress made to safeguard their patients’ information resulted in the OCR levying a $25,000 fine years after the impermissible disclosure took place, in part as a result of continuously failing to mediate the gaps in their HIPAA program. OCR Director, Roger Severino, emphasized the practice’s lack of effort in his statement accompanying the press release. “Health care providers owe it to their patients to comply with the HIPAA Rules. When informed of potential HIPAA violations, providers owe it to their patients to quickly address problem areas to safeguard individuals’ health information.” This fine highlights that it is imperative to not only have a comprehensive HIPAA compliance program in place before a breach occurs, but also ensure that safeguards are implemented after a breach has been identified – the OCR has made it clear that showing a lack of progress is one way to guarantee you end up in their crosshairs.  Unencrypted Laptop The second violation involved a large healthcare system in Rhode Island, Lifespan ACE, and resulted in a whopping $1,040,000 resolution agreement. Back in 2017, a Lifespan employees’ car was broken into and a single unencrypted laptop containing patient information from various entities within the healthcare system was stolen. This data breach led to the impermissible disclosure of over 20,000 individuals PHI and opened the doors for the OCR’s further investigation. Upon investigation, it was found that they were missing various elements of their HIPAA program including:  Because the laptop was not encrypted, a single technical safeguard that could have prevented the violation, the PHI of any patient that was accessible using the device was at high risk for misuse. Part of the OCR’s investigation revealed “systemic non-compliance” with HIPAA, including various other media and device controls such as proper encryption. “Laptops, cellphones, and other mobile devices are stolen every day, that’s the hard reality.  Covered entities can best protect their patients’ data by encrypting mobile devices to thwart identity thieves,” added Roger Severino, OCR Director in the news release. This fine emphasizes that even when theft is outside of a covered entity’s control, the responsibility still falls on the provider to properly encrypt and safeguard that valuable data. While preventing every single possibility of a data breach might be unrealistic, maintaining a proactive HIPAA compliance program that meets federal requirements and includes all appropriate encryption and technical safeguards is achievable. Ensuring you have a complete program with all aspects of HIPAA reviewed and implemented is key – and stress-free when done with an intuitive software solution like Abyde.