Category Archives: HIPAA
Hospital Worker “Weaponizes” PHI
Not a week goes by without some compliance-related enforcement action announcement in the news. The Department of Justice recently announced that a now-former hospital worker pled guilty to wrongfully accessing and distributing her ex-boyfriend’s medical records. The 41 year-old woman … Read Full Post
Trust but Verify: Medical Practice IT
Several years ago, a large provider suffered a computer system crash. Despite having devoted IT staff and internal policies, it was discovered that the practice’s back-up had not been performed in several months. We are not “tecchie” so we can’t … Read Full Post
What We’re Reading – Montefiore Employee Terminated after Data Breach Affected up to 4,000 Patient Records
An article in Healthcare Finance News recounted a recently uncovered employee’s theft of patient information at a New York hospital over a period of two years. The breach of patient addresses, dates of birth and social security numbers was detected … Read Full Post
What We’re Reading – 5 Providers Settle After Withholding EHR Access, Violating HIPAA
The HIPAA Right of Access Initiative allows patients the right to timely access to their health records at a reasonable cost and in the manner in which they request it [emphasis intentional], or they may file a complaint with the … Read Full Post
What We’re Reading – More Than 1 in 5 Patients Perceived Mistakes in their Medical Visit Notes
More than one in five patients perceived mistakes in their notes, judging more than 40% of them as serious. Such is the conclusion of a study published in the June 9, 2020 issue of JAMA. With the proliferation of electronic … Read Full Post