How to lose $387,200 in a fax
Physician Practice Insider, May 26, 2017
Two incidents at a health center operated by New York-based St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center show that sending a fax can turn an act that should have cost the organization a few cents into a settlement that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In this case, an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that an employee who worked at a center dedicated to treating patients with HIV/AIDs and other chronic diseases had faxed a patient's protected health information to a patient's employer, rather than the patient's personal post office box, as the patient had requested.
The fax contained details about the patient's health and personal history and medical treatment, including HIV status, medical care, sexually transmitted diseases, medications, sexual orientation, mental health diagnosis, and physical abuse, according to the May 24 press release issued by OCR.
During the investigation, which was triggered by a complaint the patient filed in 2014, OCR also found that the disclosure was the center's second such incident in less than a year. Nine months earlier, an employee at the center had sent another patient's information to a place where that patient volunteered. According to OCR, the center "had not addressed the vulnerabilities in their compliance program to prevent impermissible disclosures."
St. Luke's will pay $387,200 to settle allegations and enter into a corrective action plan. In the accompanying resolution agreement, OCR noted that the disclosure of information related to the diagnosis or treatment of HIV/AIDS and mental health conditions was egregious and that the disclosures had occurred against the patients’ expressed instructions.
Related Products
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Math can be tricky: TJC corrects ABHR storage requirement
- Air control equals infection control
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Five ways to safeguard your patients' valuables
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- The consequences of an incomplete medical record
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Skills of effective case managers
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- E-mailed
-
- Plan of Care Supports Documentation of Homebound Status
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- Note from the instructor: CMS clarifies billing guidelines on proper billing for drugs in a single-dose or single-use vial, including billing for discarded drugs
- Neurological checks for head injuries
- Modifiers and medical necessity
- HIPAA Q&A: Cameras in patient rooms
- Follow these tips to properly report bladder catheter codes
- Examine cardboard boxes stored on floor to avoid infection control, life safety citations
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Consider two options for coding Rho(D) immune globulin given in pregnancy
- Searched