What is happening with HIPAA breaches and fines? The Hospice of North Idaho (HONI) has greed to pay the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $50,000 to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. This is the first settlement involving a breach of unprotected electronic protected health information (EPHI) affecting fewer than 500 individuals.
The investigation conducted by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) followed a breach report submitted by HONI as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act reporting the theft of a laptop computer containing the electronic protected health information (EPHI) of 441 patients. Over the course of the investigation, OCR discovered that HONI had not conducted a risk analysis to safeguard EPHI. Further, HONI did not have in place policies or procedures to address mobile device security as required by the HIPAA Security Rule.
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