Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena
Public Hospital Corrects Impermissible Disclosure of PHI in Response to a Subpoena
Covered Entity: General Hospital
Issue: Impermissible Uses and Disclosures
A public hospital, in response to a subpoena (not accompanied by a
court order), impermissibly disclosed the protected health information
(PHI) of one of its patients. Contrary to the Privacy Rule protections
for information sought for administrative or judicial proceedings, the
hospital failed to determine that reasonable efforts had been made to
insure that the individual whose PHI was being sought received notice of
the request and/or failed to receive satisfactory assurance that the
party seeking the information made reasonable efforts to secure a
qualified protective order. Among other corrective actions to remedy
this situation, OCR required that the hospital revise its subpoena
processing procedures. Under the revised process, if a subpoena is
received that does not meet the requirements of the Privacy Rule, the
information is not disclosed; instead, the hospital contacts the party
seeking the subpoena and the requirements of the Privacy Rule are
explained. The hospital also trained relevant staff members on the new
procedures.
| Private Practice Revises Process to Provide Access to Records Covered Entity: Private Practices Issue: Access A private practice failed to honor an individual's request for a complete copy of her minor son's medical record. OCR's investigation determined that the private practice had relied on state regulations that permit a covered entity to provide a summary of the record. OCR provided technical assistance to the covered entity, explaining that the Privacy Rule permits a covered entity to provide a summary of patient records rather than the full record only if the requesting individual agrees in advance to such a summary ...read more |
| Health Plan Corrects Computer Flaw that Caused Mailing of EOBs to Wrong Persons Covered Entity: Health Plans Issue: Safeguards A national health maintenance organization sent explanation of benefits (EOB) by mail to a complainant's unauthorized family member. OCR's investigation determined that a flaw in the health plan's computer system put the protected health information of approximately 2,000 families at risk of disclosure in violation of the Rule. Among the corrective actions required to resolve this case, OCR required the insurer to correct the flaw in its computer system, review all transactions for a six month period and correct all ...read more |
| May a covered entity use or disclose protected health information for litigation? Answer: A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information as permitted or required by the Privacy Rule, see 45 CFR 164.502(a) (PDF); and, subject to certain conditions the Rule typically permits uses and disclosures for litigation, whether for judicial or administrative proceedings, under particular provisions for judicial and administrative proceedings set forth at 45 CFR 164.512(e) (GPO), or as part of the covered entity’s health care operations, 45 CFR 164.506(a) (PDF). Depending on the context, a covered entity’s use or disclosure of protected health information in ...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 |
|
May 2026
| Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa |
| | | | | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 |
Blog Home
Newest Blog Entries
1/21/25 Understanding Business Associate Agreements
11/12/22 Modernizing Medicine Agrees to Pay $45 Million to Resolve Allegations of Accepting and Paying Illegal Kickbacks and Causing False Claims
11/12/22 Indian National Charged in $8 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme
11/12/22 Former Hospital Employee Pleads Guilty To Criminal HIPPA Charges
11/12/22 Covered entities and those persons rendered accountable by general principles of corporate criminal liability may be prosecuted directly under 42 U.S.C. § 1320d-6
11/12/22 The Delaware Division of Developmental Disabilities Services Data Breach
11/12/22 OCR Settles Three Cases with Dental Practices for Patient Right of Access under HIPAA
11/12/22 HHS Issues Guidance on HIPAA and Audio-Only Telehealth
11/12/22 Five Former Methodist Hospital Employees Charged with HIPAA Violations
11/12/22 May a covered entity use or disclose protected health information for litigation?
11/12/22 When does the Privacy Rule allow covered entities to disclose protected health information to law enforcement officials?
Blog Archives
January 2025 (1)
November 2022 (54)
Blog Labels
PPP Fraud (1)
Data Breach (1)
BAA (4)
Telehealth (1)
EHR Fraud (1)
HIPAA Enforcement (3)
ePHI (2)
HIPAA (2)
Covered Entity (40)
|
