Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm
Pharmacy Chain Enters into Business Associate Agreement with Law Firm
Covered Entity: Pharmacy Chain
Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Business Associates
A complaint alleged that a law firm working on behalf of a pharmacy
chain in an administrative proceeding impermissibly disclosed the PHI of
a customer of the pharmacy chain. OCR investigated the allegation and
found no evidence that the law firm had impermissibly disclosed the
customer’s PHI. However, the investigation revealed that the pharmacy
chain and the law firm had not entered into a Business Associate
Agreement, as required by the Privacy Rule to ensure that PHI is
appropriately safeguarded. Without a properly executed agreement, a
covered entity may not disclose PHI to its law firm. To resolve the
matter, OCR required the pharmacy chain and the law firm to enter into a
business associate agreement.
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| Outpatient Surgical Facility Corrects Privacy Procedure in Research Recruitment Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures An outpatient surgical facility disclosed a patient's protected health information (PHI) to a research entity for recruitment purposes without the patient's authorization or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or privacy-board-approved waiver of authorization. The outpatient facility reportedly believed that such disclosures were permitted by the Privacy Rule. OCR provided technical assistance to the covered entity regarding the requirement that covered entities seeking to disclose PHI for research recruitment purposes must obtain either a valid patient authorization or an Institutional Review Board ...read more |
| Private Practice Ceases Conditioning of Compliance with the Privacy Rule Covered Entity: Private Practice Issue: Conditioning Compliance with the Privacy Rule A physician practice requested that patients sign an agreement entitled “Consent and Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy.” The agreement prohibited the patient from directly or indirectly publishing or airing commentary about the physician, his expertise, and/or treatment in exchange for the physician’s compliance with the Privacy Rule. A patient’s rights under the Privacy Rule are not contingent on the patient’s agreement with a covered entity. A covered entity’s obligation to comply with all requirements of the Privacy Rule ...read more |
| Entity Rescinds Improper Charges for Medical Record Copies to Reflect Reasonable, Cost-Based Fees Covered Entity: Private Practice Issue: Access A patient alleged that a covered entity failed to provide him access to his medical records. After OCR notified the entity of the allegation, the entity released the complainant’s medical records but also billed him $100.00 for a “records review fee” as well as an administrative fee. The Privacy Rule permits the imposition of a reasonable cost-based fee that includes only the cost of copying and postage and preparing an explanation or summary if agreed to by the individual. To ...read more |
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