Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI
Dentist Revises Process to Safeguard Medical Alert PHI
Covered Entity: Health Care Provider
Issue: Safeguards, Minimum Necessary
An OCR investigation confirmed allegations that a dental practice
flagged some of its medical records with a red sticker with the word
"AIDS" on the outside cover, and that records were handled so that other
patients and staff without need to know could read the sticker. When
notified of the complaint filed with OCR, the dental practice
immediately removed the red AIDS sticker from the complainant's file. To
resolve this matter, OCR also required the practice to revise its
policies and operating procedures and to move medical alert stickers to
the inside cover of the records. Further, the covered entity's Privacy
Officer and other representatives met with the patient and apologized,
and followed the meeting with a written apology.
| 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 |
| A Covered Entity is: A health plan. An individual or group plan that provides, or pays the cost of, medical care. Health plans include private entities (e.g., health insurers and managed care organizations) and government organizations (e.g., Medicaid, Medicare, and the Veterans Health Administration) A health care provider. A provider of health care services and any other person or organization that furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business. Health care providers (e.g., physicians, hospitals, and clinics) are covered entities if they transmit health information in electronic form in connection with a transaction ...read more |
| 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 |
| 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. ...read more |
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