Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers

Health Sciences Center Revises Process to Prevent Unauthorized Disclosures to Employers
Covered Entity: General Hospitals
Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures; Authorizations

A state health sciences center disclosed protected health information to a complainant's employer without authorization. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, including mitigation of harm to the complainant, OCR required the Center to revise its procedures regarding patient authorization prior to release of protected health information to an employer. All staff was trained on the revised procedures.



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



Large Health System Restricts Provider's Use of Patient Records Covered Entity: Multi-Hospital Healthcare Provider Issue: Impermissible Use A nurse practitioner who has privileges at a multi-hospital health care system and who is part of the system’s organized health care arrangement impermissibly accessed the medical records of her ex-husband.  In order to resolve this matter to OCR’s satisfaction and to prevent a recurrence, the covered entity: terminated the nurse practitioner’s access to its electronic records system; reported the nurse practitioner’s conduct to the appropriate licensing authority; and, provided the nurse practitioner with remedial Privacy Rule training. ...read more



Clinic Sanctions Supervisor for Accessing Employee Medical Record Covered Entity: Outpatient Facility Issue: Impermissible Use and Disclosure A hospital employee's supervisor accessed, examined, and disclosed an employee's medical record. OCR's investigation confirmed that the use and disclosure of protected health information by the supervisor was not authorized by the employee and was not otherwise permitted by the Privacy Rule. An employee's medical record is protected by the Privacy Rule, even though employment records held by a covered entity in its role as employer are not. Among other corrective actions to resolve the specific issues in the case, a letter ...read more



No Business Associate Agreement? $31K Mistake The Center for Children’s Digestive Health (CCDH) has paid the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $31,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule and agreed to implement a corrective action plan. CCDH is a small, for-profit health care provider with a pediatric subspecialty practice that operates its practice in seven clinic locations in Illinois.   In August 2015, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) initiated a compliance review of the Center for Children’s Digestive Health (CCDH) following an initiation ...read more

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