HIPPA Violations Essay - 1174 Words

Disclosing confidential patient information without patient consent can happen in the health care field quite often and is the basis for many cases brought against health care facilities. There are many ways confidential information gets into the wrong hands and this paper explores some of those ways and how that can be prevented. When confidential patient information is disclosed without consent it is a violation of the HIPAA Title II Security Rule. This rule was enacted in response to private information being leaked to the news and emails containing privileged information were read by unauthorized people. Identity theft is a real concern so patient privacy should be taken seriously. This is a rule can easily be broken without the†¦show more content†¦Consent and authorization are treated differently when it comes to the privacy rule. Consent gives doctors who directly care for the patient permission to use and disclose protected health information (PHI), for the purposes of treating the patient. Authorization on the other hand, is more specific to the procedure or treatment being performed at the time and has an expiration date. An authorization is needed to disclose PHI to employers for employment decisions or to insurance companies to determine eligibility for life insurance. So, giving consent for treatment does not give a health care entity permission to disclose PHI to unauthorized third parties. The penalties for violating the rules dictating by HIPAA are complicated because the guidelines are still very broad and the rules are still so new that with each case new standards are being set as to the way violations are being handled. Violation of HIPAA rules can result in civil and criminal consequences. There is case that marked history as the first health care organization to be fined for a HIPAA violation. Cignet Health in Maryland was fined $4.3 million for two violations: failure to provide patients a copy of their medical records within 60 days of a request and failure to cooperate with civil investigators. â€Å"HIPAA calls for civil and criminal penalties for privacy and security violations, including: -- fines up to $25K for multiple violations of the same standard in a calendar year -Show MoreRelatedHippa Violation1569 Words   |  7 PagesHIPPA Violation Sarah Joss Rasmussen College Author Note This research paper is being submitted on March 3th, 2013, for Milo Sampson’s M230/HSC2641 Section 04 - Medical Law and Ethics class. HIPPA Violation – Privacy Rule Thesis: Preventing violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule greatly impacts any health care professional, specifically patient information as it relates to a pharmacy and its entire staff. 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