09/26/2019    

HIPAA UPDATE

Failure to Provide Patient Records can Result in a HIPAA Fine - Part 2

 

Recently, Bayfront Health in St. Petersburg, FL, agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) $85,000 and implement a corrective action plan for a potential breach of failing to provide a pregnant woman with a full copy of her medical record, including the fetal heart monitor records of her unborn child, within the 30 days prescribed by HIPAA.

 

OCR initiated its investigation based on a complaint from the mother.  As a result, Bayfront directly provided the individual with the requested health information more than nine months after the initial request. The HIPAA Rules generally require covered healthcare providers to provide medical records within 30 days of the request, and providers can only charge a reasonable cost-based fee. This right to patient records extends to parents who seek medical information about their minor children. In this case, it was a mother who sought prenatal health records about her child.

 

Source: Rachel V. Rose, JD, MBA, Physicians Practice [9/13/19]