At the peak of the Ebola scare in 2014, Nebraska Medical Center in Ohama admitted Dr. Richard Sacra. A breach of patient confidentiality is not necessarily a HIPAA violation because some disclosures of PHI permitted by the Privacy Rule may be considered a breach of patient confidentiality by the patient, even though they are not. Regulatory Changes A gunman walked up to Jaguar player Collier and shot him 14 times outside a Riverside apartment. Even so, Nadye Suleman was quick to take a tabloid beating after giving birth to octuplets in 2009. Reality television actress Kim Kardashian gave birth at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. But, with the right strategy in place, the task of reminding customers gets much easier. Read More, Exposure of ePHI as a direct result of the failure to conduct a comprehensive risk analysis and a security assessment on a server prior to using it to share files containing ePHI. Massachusetts General Hospital agreed to settle the alleged HIPAA violations with OCR for $515,000. Health Specialists of Central Florida Inc. settled the case with OCR and paid a $20,000 penalty. The settlement was the result of many failures to remedy privacy and security deficiencies. Several #Cowboys players & several #Texans players have tested positive for COVID-19 recently, sources tell me & @TomPelissero. He later admitted to obtaining patient health information on four occasions after termination. The firewall was inactive for a period of 10 months leaving the data exposed and potentially accessible to unauthorized third parties for an unacceptable period of time. The HIPAA Right of Access violation was settled with OR for $75,000. UCLA officials examined the employees emails and phone records and felt that she had not leaked the information. OCR provided technical assistance but received another complaint from the same patient that the records had still not been provided. The entire United States seemed to be holding its breath in early March as everyone awaited an imminent national shutdown. The Justice Department has taken three such cases to court since 2003.Some 30,000 complaints of HIPAA violations have been filed with Health and Human Services since 2003. 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. At the time or writing, Zeke has yet to take any sort of legal action against Ian Rapoport and its unclear if he ever will. Skagit County agreed to pay OCR $215,000 following the exposure of data of seven individuals. 27 workers couldn't resist taking a peek at the hunk's medical records, and were suspended for one month without pay. In 2011, UCLA had to pay an $865,000 fine for allowing unauthorized access to the medical records of three celebrity patients by non-authorized personnel. After being investigated by the Office for Civil Rights, it was found that the company had multiple HIPAA violations that amounted to a 16 million dollar fine from HIPAA and resulted in a 115-million-dollar class action lawsuit. Check out the articles below for the latest HIPAA news and HIPAA violation cases impacting US healthcare organizations and the patients they serve. Celebrity HIPAA Breaches Affirm the Importance of Healthcare Compliance Training. Failure to comply with individuals rights. The HHS didnt prosecute the NFL as a HIPAA Covered entity and notified those affected by this event. ESPN obtained medical charts that show Giants DE Jason Pierre-Paul had right index finger amputated today. The goal of this post is to help you prepare your staff just in case a celebrity checks into your healthcare facility. On June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson passed away due to acute propofol and benzodiazepine intoxication at his home in Los Angeles. OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged he had been denied access to his medical records. 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. Later, they reported that EMTs had given the treatment following a Percocet overdose. The case was settled for $160,000. The doctor became the first healthcare employee sent to jail for a HIPAA violation. The doctor was retiring and received a delivery of 71 boxes of medical files containing up to 8,000 patient records; however, the delivery was made, and the boxes were left on the doctors driveway while he was out of the house. 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. Her diagnosis became a national topic of conversation before she was able herself to process the devastating news. 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. Read More, The solo dental practitioner in Butler, PA, failed to provide a patient with a copy of their medical record in a timely manner. CHMC settled the HIPAA Right of Access case with OCR and paid an $80,000 penalty. More than 100 private class action lawsuits were filed against Anthem the ultimately consolidated case being settled for $115 million. The containers had labels that included the PHI of patients. OCR received a complaint from a patient who had not been provided with her medical records after a 2-month wait. The privacy breaches occurred shortly after each other in 2013. The device contained a range of patients ePHI, including full names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. Prince was a famously private person. After a motorcycle accident, George Clooney and then-girlfriend, Sarah Larson, checked into Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, New Jersey. However, the user also posted detailed information regarding the medical procedures performed on Mr. Epstein in an attempt to resuscitate him. During the ordeal, one doctor and two employees accessed Presslys electronic files to determine her condition. 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. Way back in 2013 Keeping Up with The Kardashians star Scott Disicks mother died suddenly. Read More, The HHS has announced that Lahey Hospital and Medical Center has agreed to settle a case with the Office for Civil Rights over alleged HIPAA violations following a data breach that occurred in October 2011. Anthem settled a consolidated class-action lawsuit for the data breach victims for $115 million in 2018. However, 38 minutes prior to the announcement, an anonymous user confirmed his death on 4Chan. For example, if a healthcare provider maintains a database of names and telephone numbers and there is no health information maintained in the same database the names and telephone numbers are not ProtectedHealthInformation and therefore not protected by the Privacy Rule. Everything seemed to happen all at once, especially within the sports world. On the black market, it has become more desirable than credit card data. Read More, In March 2019, OCR received a complaint from a patient who alleged she had not been provided with a copy of her medical records in the requested electronic format despite making repeated requests. Although HIPAA laws may not seem like a big deal, leaking medical information is never a victimless crime. The number of patients affected by the breach wasnt reported but the hospital notified all families involved. All UCLA hospitals in question failed to put in place efficient controls after the HIPAA infractions occurred. Read More, OCR launched an investigation into the Carroll County, GA ambulance company, West Georgia Ambulance, after being notified about the loss of an unencrypted laptop computer that contained the PHI of 500 patients. Read More, OCR fined Pagosa Springs Medical Center $111,400 for the failure to terminate a former employees access to a web-based scheduling calendar, which resulted in an impermissible disclosure of 557 patients ePHI. This is why California enacted health privacy legislation in 2008. During a 2009 burglary, she was brutally raped and assaulted in her home. Most HIPAA violation cases are medical HIPAA violation cases because there are many more medical facilities that qualify as Covered Entities as there are health plans or health care clearing houses that qualify as Covered Entities. Read More, A HIPAA settlement of $218,400 has been reached with St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) for violations of HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. Read More, Massachusetts General Hospital was fined for allowing an ABC film crew to record footage of patients as part of the Boston Med TV series, without first obtaining consent from patients. George Clooney - In 2007, the famed actor was being treated for injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident at Palisades Medical Center in New Jersey. The hospital faced $95,000 in fines for privacy violations. The case was settled for $65,000. While critics of the punishment claim the hospital went too far in retaliation, the medical facility disagreed: Any allegation of a breach of patient confidentiality is taken very seriously. They later admitted that they knew they were breaking the law. OCR intervened and closed the case but received a second complaint a month later when the records had still not been provided. This healthcare network then had to pay USD 5.5 million for this accident. The employees who viewed his medical report without proper access were immediately fired. 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. Read more, Arbour Hospital, a mental health clinic in Boston, MA, failed to provide a patient with the requested medical records within 30 days. St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center admitted her, but she died five days later. Back in 2007, Epstein faced a 13-month jail sentence for sexual abuse involving underaged girls. Huge headlines dropped throughout the summer of 2019 involving the financial manager and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Read More, Parkview Healthcare System has agreed to pay an $800,000 settlement for a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. OCR provided technical assistance and closed the case, but the records were still not provided. Back in 2005, some UCLA employees received disciplinary action for peeking at Spears medical records after the birth of her son. Asking someone about their COVID-19 vaccination status does not violate HIPAA. In September 2005, several employees inappropriately viewed her records at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. CardioNet is a Pennsylvania-based provider of remote mobile monitoring and rapid response services to patients at risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Read more, In 2015, Excellus Health Plan reported a breach of the ePHI of 9,358,891 individuals. 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. In 2007, George Clooneys medical recordsbecame a fascinating read. The data breach was caused when a computer server firewall was deactivated by a physician at Columbia University leaving electronic PHI exposed and accessible via search engines. The case was settled for $100,000. Reporters satisfied their journalistic hunger by keeping fans updated on players coming down with the illness. Authorities said. This affects the entire telecommunications industry and all SMS vendors. Settlements have previously been agreed upon with healthcare providers, health plans, and business associates of covered entities, but this is the first time OCR has settled potential HIPAA violations with a wireless health services provider. Within two weeks of his death, his death certificate recorded received more than 300 views. This wasnt the first time Britney Spears was a victim of a HIPAA violation. The crackdown during that time led to numerous warnings, employment terminations, and hefty fines. 1. The employees got suspended for one month without pay. Read More, Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences experienced a hacking incident that was reported to OCR in January 2018. Case After ten years of back pain and difficulty finding properly fitting clothing, Alexis decides to begin researching breast reduction. This time, the university fired thirteen employees, suspended six others and took disciplinary action against six doctors. 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. 1. It seems like whenever a celebrity requires medical attention, it leads to unauthorized viewing of medical records. Concentra has agreed to pay OCR $1,725,220 to resolve the case.