Blog Post
Interesting and Relevant Articles on HIPAA
What is a HIPAA violation?
In simple terms, a HIPAA violation is failure to comply with the requirements of the HIPAA standards. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HIPAA violations that most commonly appear in complaints are given in order of frequency as follows:
-
Impermissible uses and disclosures of protected health information.
-
Lack of safeguards of protected health information.
-
Lack of patient access to their protected health information.
-
Lack of administrative safeguards of electronic protected health information.
-
Use or disclosure of more than the minimum necessary protected health information.
Also according to the HHS, the most common types of organizations to have been alleged to have committed violations are given in order or frequency as follows:
-
General hospitals.
-
Private practices and physicians.
-
Pharmacies.
-
Outpatient facilities.
-
Community health centers.
Certain violations might be serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution, whereas others might result in civil money penalties. As the HHS says, “Penalties will vary significantly depending on factors such as the date of the violation, whether the covered entity knew or should have known of the failure to comply, or whether the covered entity's failure to comply was due to willful neglect.”
