Big Penalties for Little HIPAA Slips
Posted: February 14, 2017 to Compliance.
Don't let even a little HIPAA slip go unnoticed. Presence Health of Chicago was recently fined nearly half a million dollars for failing to alert patients about some missing information. The incident goes back to a paper operating room schedule that went missing in 2013. The schedule had the names, birthdates and other health information of over 800 patients. After an investigation, it was found that Presence Health failed to notify patients and social media outlets within 60 days of the data loss. It was a relatively minor mishap, but Federal regulators slapped Presence Health with a $475,000 fine. HIPAA can, as you see, crush a medical practice. If you haven't picked up a copy of our book, How HIPAA Can Crush Your Medical Practice, you should get it now to make sure you avoid small mistakes that can cost you big.
