Mental Health Center Corrects Process for Providing Notice of Privacy Practices
Mental Health Center Corrects Process for Providing Notice of Privacy Practices
Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility
Issue: Notice
A mental health center did not provide a notice of privacy practices
(notice) to a father or his minor daughter, a patient at the
center. In response to OCR’s investigation, the mental health center
acknowledged that it had not provided the complainant and his daughter
with a notice prior to her mental health evaluation. To resolve this
matter, the mental health center revised its intake assessment policy
and procedures to specify that the notice will be provided and the
clinician will attempt to obtain a signed acknowledgement of receipt of
the notice prior to the intake assessment. The acknowledgement form is
now included in the intake package of forms. The center also provided
OCR with written assurance that all policy changes were brought to the
attention of the staff involved in the daughter’s care and then
disseminated to all staff affected by the policy change.
| Radiologist Revises Process for Workers Compensation Disclosures Covered Entity: Health Care Provider Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures A radiology practice that interpreted a hospital patient’s imaging tests submitted a worker’s compensation claim to the patient’s employer. The claim included the patient’s test results. However, the patient was not covered by worker’s compensation and had not identified worker’s compensation as responsible for payment. OCR’s investigation revealed that the radiology practice had relied upon incorrect billing information from the treating hospital in submitting the claim. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the practice apologized to ...read more |
| Issued by: Office for Civil Rights (OCR) What if a HIPAA covered entity (or business associate) uses a CSP to maintain ePHI without first executing a business associate agreement with that CSP? Answer: If a covered entity (or business associate) uses a CSP to maintain (e.g., to process or store) electronic protected health information (ePHI) without entering into a BAA with the CSP, the covered entity (or business associate) is in violation of the HIPAA Rules. 45 C.F.R §§164.308(b)(1) and §164.502(e). OCR has entered into a resolution agreement and corrective action plan with a covered entity that OCR determined ...read more |
| HMO Revises Process to Obtain Valid Authorizations Covered Entity: Health Plans / HMOs Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations A complaint alleged that an HMO impermissibly disclosed a member’s PHI, when it sent her entire medical record to a disability insurance company without her authorization. An OCR investigation indicated that the form the HMO relied on to make the disclosure was not a valid authorization under the Privacy Rule. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, the HMO created a new HIPAA-compliant authorization form and implemented a new policy that directs staff to obtain patient signatures ...read more |
| Private Practice Revises Policies and Procedures Addressing Activities Preparatory to Research Covered Entity: Private Practice Issue: Impermissible Disclosure-Research A private practice physician who was the principal investigator of a clinical research study disclosed a list of patients and diagnostic codes to a contract research organization to telephone patients for recruitment purposes. The disclosure was not consistent with documents approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). The private practice maintained that the disclosure to the contract research organization was permissible as a review preparatory to research. Activities considered “preparatory to research” include: preparing a research protocol; developing a research hypothesis; ...read more |
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