Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

HHS relies on voluntary compliance for HIPAA

Physician Practice Advisor, June 7, 2006

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has received 19,420 grievances since 2003 alleging violations of medical privacy provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), The Washington Post reports. Of these allegations, HHS has prosecuted two criminal cases and has not imposed any fines.

HHS has closed more than 73% of the cases, ruling that there was no violation or allowing healthcare entities to voluntarily fix the alleged problem. The most common allegations involve improper disclosure of medical details, inadequate security for records, or failure to obtain authorization before disclosing records.

"Our first approach to dealing with any complaint is to work for voluntary compliance. So far it's worked out pretty well," Winston Wilkinson, who heads HHS' Office for Civil Rights, said in the article.

Click here to view The Washington Post article.

Most Popular