DOJ charges two under HIPAA
Compliance Monitor, October 3, 2006
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Florida prosecutors indicted two people for charges that include a criminal violation of HIPAA after stolen patient information wound up on bogus Medicare claims, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Fernando Ferrer, Jr., and Isis Machado face an eight count indictment in the Southern District Court of Florida. Machado allegedly used her position at a Weston, FL, healthcare clinic, Cleveland Clinic, to download the information of more than 1,000 patients.
Machado then allegedly sold the data to Ferrer, her cousin, who used stolen Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth, and Medicare numbers to submit approximately $2.8 million in false Medicare claims.
"Under HIPAA, we expect healthcare employees to keep our personal information confidential and secure. We will not stand by when this confidentiality is broken and criminals sell and profit from patients' health records," FBI agent Jonathan Solomon said in a DOJ release. The case is the third criminal prosecution of HIPAA.
Ferrer and Machado face maximum HIPAA penalties of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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