OCR steps up HIPAA enforcement, with 4 news providers facing settlements
The HHS Office for Civil Rights this past week announced the outcomes of three HIPAA investigations and brought another matter before a judge, signaling a continued prioritization of patients’ rights to privacy and health data access under the law.
WHY IT MATTERS
Two of these cases are part of OCR’s HIPAA Right of Access Initiative, and two are enforcement actions resulting from impermissible disclosure of patients’ protected health information. Three of them involve dental practices.
THE LARGER TREND
The two new right of access settlements bring the total number of enforcement actions to 27 since the initiative began in 2019. Over the past three years OCR has collected more than two-dozen settlements, usually in the tens of thousands of dollars, as it promised to “vigorously enforce” the patients’ right to access their data in a timely fashion without being overcharged.
Still some patients are still forced to sue to gain access to their own healthcare data. Sometimes, the hindrances are deliberate. Oftentimes, they come from providers’ misunderstanding of what the HIPAA Privacy Law stipulates.
Click here for a podcast interview with healthcare privacy attorney Matthew Fisher, who discussed somee proposed HIPAA changes and spoke in-depth about OCR’s continued emphasis on patient right of access.
ON THE RECORD
“Between the rising pace of breaches of unsecured protected health information and continued cybersecurity threats impacting the healthcare industry, it is critical that covered entities take their HIPAA compliance responsibilities seriously,” said OCR Director Lisa J. Pino, in a statement announcing the new enforcements. “OCR will continue our steadfast commitment to protect individuals’ health information privacy and security through enforcement, and we will pursue civil money penalties for violations that are not addressed.”
Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
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