Impanix
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law that establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and personal health information. Violating HIPAA regulations can result in severe consequences, including hefty fines, legal action, and damage to an organization’s reputation. Unfortunately, HIPAA violations are all too common in the healthcare industry. In this blog, we will explore the most common HIPAA violations and how to prevent them. By understanding these violations, healthcare professionals can take the necessary steps to protect patient’s privacy and avoid costly penalties.
Contents
What Is HIPAA?
What Is The Security Rule Of HIPAA?
The Security Rule is one of the two main rules under HIPAA, alongside the Privacy Rule. The Security Rule sets national standards for safeguarding electronically protected health information (ePHI) that is created, received, maintained, or transmitted by covered entities and business associates. This requires covered entities to implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect ePHI from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
Overall, the Security Rule also requires covered entities to have policies and procedures in place for responding to security incidents and breaches of ePHI.
What Are The Different Types Of HIPAA Violations?
There are different types of HIPAA violations that can occur in the healthcare industry. These violations are generally either “willful neglect” or “reasonable cause.”
- Willful neglect: Willful neglect occurs when a covered entity or business associate intentionally or knowingly disregards HIPAA regulations. This type of violation can result in the highest penalties, with fines ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 per violation.
- Reasonable cause: Reasonable cause occurs when a covered entity or business associate has not acted with willful neglect but has violated HIPAA regulations due to a lack of awareness or failure to exercise reasonable diligence. Penalties for reasonable cause violations can range from $1,000 to $50,000 per violation.
- Corrected or uncured: A corrected violation is one that is identified and corrected within 30 days of discovery, while an uncured violation is one that is not corrected within the same timeframe. Corrected violations can result in lower penalties, while uncured violations can result in higher penalties.
- Unknown: An unknown violation occurs when a covered entity or business associate is unaware of a HIPAA violation, such as a data breach until it is reported or discovered by another party. Penalties for unknown violations can range from $100 to $50,000 per violation.
It’s important for covered entities and their business associates to understand the different types of HIPAA violations and take steps to prevent potential violations from occurring. By following HIPAA regulations and implementing strong administrative, physical, and technical safeguards, healthcare providers and organizations can avoid potential violations and protect the privacy of patient’s personal health information.
What Are The Examples Of The Most Common HIPAA Violations?
There are several examples of the most common HIPAA violations that occur in the healthcare industry. Some of these violations include:
- Unauthorized access or disclosure of protected health information (PHI): This can occur when an individual accesses or shares PHI without a valid reason or authorization.
- Lost or stolen devices containing PHI: This can happen when a device containing PHI, such as a laptop or smartphone, is lost or stolen, and the PHI is not properly encrypted or secured.
- Failure to conduct a risk analysis: HIPAA requires covered entities to conduct a risk analysis to identify potential risks to ePHI and implement appropriate security measures. Failure to conduct a risk analysis can result in significant penalties.
- Lack of employee training: Covered entities must provide training to their employees on HIPAA regulations and their role in protecting PHI. Failure to provide adequate training can result in HIPAA violations.
- Failure to obtain proper authorization: Covered entities must obtain proper authorization before disclosing PHI for non-treatment purposes. Failure to obtain proper authorization can result in HIPAA violations.
- Failure to provide patients with access to their PHI: HIPAA grants patients the right to access their PHI. Failure to provide patients with access to their PHI can result in HIPAA violations.
Overall, these are just a few examples of the most common HIPAA violations. It’s important for covered entities and their business associates to understand HIPAA regulations and take the necessary steps to protect PHI and avoid potential violations.
How To Avoid The Risk Of HIPAA Violations?
There are several steps that healthcare providers and organizations can take to avoid the risk of HIPAA violations:
- Conduct a comprehensive risk analysis: Firstly, identify potential risks to ePHI and implement appropriate security measures to address those risks.
- Implement strong administrative, physical, and technical safeguards: These safeguards should include policies and procedures for data backup and disaster recovery, encryption of PHI, access controls, and monitoring of systems for unauthorized access or activity.
- Provide regular training to employees: Educate employees on HIPAA regulations, their role in protecting PHI, and how to recognize and report potential security incidents or breaches.
- Implement a breach response plan: Have a plan in place for responding to security incidents or breaches of ePHI, including notification of affected individuals and regulatory authorities.
- Limit access to PHI: Only provide access to PHI on a need-to-know basis and implement procedures for granting and revoking access to PHI.
- Use Business Associate Agreements: Finally, ensure that any third-party vendors or contractors who handle PHI on behalf of the covered entity have signed Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and are compliant with HIPAA regulations.
Above all, by following these steps, healthcare providers and organizations can reduce the risk of HIPAA violations and ensure that PHI remains protected and secure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, HIPAA regulations play a crucial role in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of individuals’ personal health information. Violating HIPAA regulations can result in significant penalties, including fines and legal action, and damage to an organization’s reputation. Healthcare providers and organizations can avoid the risk of HIPAA violations by conducting a comprehensive risk analysis and implementing strong safeguards. By taking these steps, healthcare providers and organizations can protect patients’ privacy and avoid potential HIPAA violations. If you are looking to implement any of the Infosec compliance frameworks such as SOC 2 compliance, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliance, Impanix can help. Book a Free consultation call with our experts or email us at [email protected] for inquiries.
315 W 36th St. 5th floor, New York, NY 10018, United States
+13073069000