![]() ![]() ![]() HIPAA compliance requires thorough and proper disposal of PHI. HIPAA Violation 5: Improper disposal of PHI Being consciously cautious is always a protective concern. Although it might seem harmless, carelessly discussing patient information around non-medical practice employees can damage a patient's privacy and result in financial consequences for the practice. This is where it’s imperative that those conversations occur only in private, not in front of a public audience. There will always be situations in which medical practice employees need to discuss a specific patient's diagnosis, treatment plans, and medications. HIPAA Violation 4: Gossiping and Sharing PHIĬonversations between co-workers are typically no issue, but in healthcare practice, that standard doesn't always apply. Annually, data breaches cost the healthcare industry more than $6.2 billion.Īny organization is vulnerable to hacking, which is why it's incredibly important for each health organization to take database breaches seriously and implement security measures to protect against them. HIPAA Violation 3: Database Breachesĭata breaches get the most publicity of all reported HIPAA violations, given the grand scale on which many of them take place. Unfortunately for the practice, even minuscule violations can cause significant issues.īeing proactive and training employees for anything and everything regarding HIPAA compliance keeps practice safe. Without proper or thorough HIPAA training, obvious compliance issues won't be a problem, but rather the smaller, more complex violations will cause issues on account of employees' lack of knowledge. Unfortunately, too many behavioral health practices do not thoroughly train employees in the ways of HIPAA compliance. Having a staff that's consistently HIPAA compliant is a testament to the diligence of employees, but it's also a result of the training from upper management. RELATED: Establishing a HIPAA-Compliant Personal Device Policy HIPAA Violation 2: Lack of Employment Training However, that negligence can result in significant issues for practice, should the wrong person gain possession of the phone and the PHI. ![]() People are prone to forgetting phones, leaving them unattended, or aren’t password-protected, especially in a comfortable environment like an office. It’s easy to be casual with them, even with the sensitive information they can contain if they are used by providers for work purposes. With more than 400 people affected by the breach, the facility was fined $650,000.Ĭell phones and tablets are such a part of behavioral health professionals’ everyday lives, in and out of the office. The phone was also without a password or encrypted to protect the PHI. Whether it’s a laptop, tablet, or phone, if it holds patient data, or is linked to it, there’s a problem if there’s unauthorized access to it.įor example, a recent case was settled where a cell phone that contained a significant amount of PHI, such as SSNs, medications, and more. Fines of up to $1.5 million – per violation category, per year that the violation has been allowed to persist. One of the most common HIPAA violations is that a lost or stolen device can easily result in theft or unauthorized access to PHI. HIPAA Violation 1: A Non-Encrypted Lost or Stolen Device Ensuring HIPAA compliance through PHI security is imperative, both from a business and consumer perspective. Quantifying the damage, financial consequences levied on the violating practice typically carry penalties ranging from $100 to a maximum annual fine of $1.5 million. Unauthorized access to patient information is a constant struggle in behavioral healthcare practice. No matter whether they are small or large, common violations of HIPAA regulations always have the potential to be extremely damaging to the practice that commits the violation, and to the privacy of the patients affected. Below is an overview of the 5 most common (and costly) Protected Health Information (PHI) violations of HIPAA requirements. Unfortunately, HIPAA violations are still a reality in the healthcare industry, continuing to build annually. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been in effect for more than 25 years now, through the United States Department of Health and Human Services. We've broken down the 5 most common ones here. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been in effect for more than 20 years now, but unfortunately, HIPAA violations are still a reality in the healthcare industry. ![]()
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