September 2021 HIPAA Fines and Settlements

We are back again with another Right of Access Initiative Settlement recap for the month! This September settlement puts us at the 20th total since this initiative began 2 years ago this month. The past two years have been a consistent reminder to us all to prioritize streamlining the processing so that any requests to patient records can be fulfilled quickly and efficiently within the required time frame of 60 days. 

Children’s Hospital & Medical Center (CHMC) 

On September 10th, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) reached a settlement with the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center following a potential violation of HIPAA. CHMC, the Omaha, NE-based pediatric health care provider, will be required to pay $80,000 and submit to corrective actions as a result of this incident. Here are the details on the complaint and resulting investigation: 

Back in May 2020, a parent submitted a complaint to Children’s Hospital and Medical Center insisting that the facility had failed to provide her with her child’s complete medical records within the required time frame. It was eventually found that CHMC had provided the mother with some of the child’s records but never the complete report, despite her many follow-up attempts. 

After receiving this complaint, the OCR began an investigation and ultimately determined that CHMC had failed to provide timely and complete access to the records as is required under HIPAA. Upon completion of the investigation, the parent was finally given the complete health record of her child. More information about the corrective plan and resolution agreement can be found here.