HHS fined Cignet $1.3 million for violating patients’ rights by denying them access to their medical records when requested between September 2008 and October 2009. The HIPAA privacy rule requires health care providers to supply a patient with a copy of his or her medical records within 30 days of the patient’s request.
In addition, the department fined Cignet another $3 million for failing to respond to requests by the HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) to produce the records, cooperate with investigators, and turn over the records in response to a subpoena. The privacy rule requires health care providers to cooperate with HHS investigations.
Detailed records of these violations were provided in a Notice of Proposed Determination sent to Cignet on Oct. 20, 2010.
“Covered entities and business associates must uphold their responsibility to provide patients with access to their medical records, and adhere closely to all of HIPAA’s requirements”, said OCR director Georgina Verdugo. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will continue to investigate and take action against those organizations that knowingly disregard their obligations under these rules.”
Comments
Wendy says:
11 March 2011
Donations of, GTB Technologies Enterprise Data at Rest Scanners are currently underway to Non-Profit Cancer Centers in the United States. The Data at Rest Scanner is a Data Discovery tool that searches an enterprise network for HIPAA violations as well as PCI and PHI data. The system runs over the network and does not require an agent. It searches any file format on Windows and UNIX files-Shares and reports where violating files reside.
This donation is in memory of Leslie Cohen, a sister of one of the GTB founders. Leslie was diagnosed with Stage II cancer in the Spring of 2002 and unfortunately after a brutal fight, succumbed to the disease March 8, 2006, a few days shy of her 48th birthday. Leslie, as well as the entire GTB Technologies' organization have always been a supporter of various Cancer Research and Treatment causes, both before and after her diagnosis.
Earlier this month, news came out that the US Department of Health and Human Services started penalizing health care organizations for HIPAA privacy violations. So in order to help avoid any penalties and instead spend valuable funds on research and care, GTB Technologies is making this donation to help Cancer Centers with HIPAA compliance.
Any Non-Profit Cancer Center may request a free copy of the Data at Rest Scanner by emailing DARS@GTTB.COM. This donation includes all support and maintenance upgrades
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