Respiratory care provider, Lincare, was ordered to pay a $239,800 fine by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR). “While OCR prefers to resolve issues through voluntary compliance, this case shows that we will take the steps necessary, including litigation, to obtain adequate remedies for violations of the HIPAA Rules,” stated OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels.
Most OCR investigations have ended in negotiated settlements, many in the millions of dollars. But there was one other instance of a civil money penalty in the case of Cignet in 2010 where Cignet refused to respond to OCR’s demands to produce the records and failed to cooperate with OCR’s investigations of the complaints, OCR filed a petition to enforce its subpoena in United States District Court and obtained default judgment against Cignet in March 2010.
HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was passed by Congress in 1996. HIPAA:
- Provides the ability to transfer and continue health insurance coverage for millions of American workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs;
- Reduces health care fraud and abuse;
- Mandates industry-wide standards for health care information on electronic billing and other processes; and
- Requires the protection and confidential handling of protected health information
EMRs such as Greenway PrimeSuite take the privacy of patient records very seriously. Greenway states, “As a key provider of services and technology to the healthcare industry, Greenway has implemented programs to address the transaction standards, and the privacy and security implications of the rules promulgated pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).”
If you have any questions regarding the HIPAA compliance of any of our EMR products, feel free to contact a sales representative at 800-955-0321.
