HIPAA Violations

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides a standard for safeguarding personal health information. It applies to health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and those who conduct certain electronic transactions. HIPAA also includes a part referred to as the Administrative Simplification Rule, which simplifies and standardizes health care transaction protocols.


What is considered a HIPAA violation?

From lost or stolen devices to improper disposal of records, it’s important for health care employees to understand how to protect PHI. This will help prevent costly breaches that can lead to fines, lawsuits, and negative publicity. Examples of HIPAA violations include:

Sharing PHI online: Social media platforms can quickly make private hospital moments public, so health care workers should be careful to limit their use of these tools. For example, one hospital employee was fired after posting a picture of a patient’s chart on social media.

Using personal cell phones at work: This isn’t just a risk for employees, it can be a breach as well. Keep a clear separation between personal and work cell phones to avoid exposing confidential information.

Forgetting to shred physical or digital records: It’s crucial for health care providers and their business associates to properly dispose of patient documents and electronic data. To do this, they must either physically shred the materials or securely wipe hard drives containing PHI.

The breadth of the HIPAA rules means that it’s easy for both covered entities and individual healthcare workers to mishandle medical information. To prevent these breaches, organizations must regularly perform a risk analysis, provide HIPAA compliance training, and document all of these processes. In addition, it’s crucial for health care providers to ensure all their business associates have a contract that specifies HIPAA compliance.

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