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First Ever HIPAA Fine Is $4.3M

Posted by Soulskill on from the why-rush-things dept.

Trailrunner7 writes "The health care industry's toothless tiger finally bared its teeth, as the US Department of Health and Human Services issued a $4.3M fine to a Maryland health care provider for violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The action is the first monetary fine issued since the Act was passed in 1996. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Final Determination to Cignet Health care of Temple Hills, Maryland on February 4. The notice followed a finding by HHS's Office of Civil Rights that Cignet failed to provide 41 patients with copies of their medical records and for failing to respond to requests from HHS's Office of Civil Rights for information related to the complaints."

3 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Dentists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sounds like exactly what this lawsuit was about. Not giving patients their records.

  2. Re:Dentists... by Vrallis · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yeah, and I never looked into HIPAA enough to realize until now that it included protecting the patient's right to access, not just privacy. Good ammo for my next visit.

  3. HAHA 4.3M is a slap in the face to us, not them! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    This doesnt faze them one bit... of the 4 hospitals they run, they have 925 beds between the 4 of them... they're racking in $$$... especially when 99% of Maryland facilities only negotiate 2% discounts.. even on a $51K bill. blasphemy!

    i checked their site and found this...
    HOSPITAL AFFILIATION: Southern Maryland Hospital, Clinton, MD, Doctors Community Hospital, Lanham, MD, Laurel Hospital, Laurel, MD, Prince Georges Hospital, Cheverly, MD*

    then i searched the 4 hospitals...
    Prince George's Hospital Center - # of beds = 329, Total Patient Revenue: $291,123,454; Total Discharges:15,789; Total Patient Days: 101,520
    Southern Maryland Hospital - # of beds = 276; Total Patient Revenue: $232,772,744; Total Discharges:18,567; Total Patient Days: 72,954
    Doctors Community Hospital - # of beds = 190; Total Patient Revenue: $196,845,854; Total Discharges:12,357; Total Patient Days: 51,708
    Laurel Hospital - # of beds = 130; Total Patient Revenue: $91,931,570; Total Discharges: 7,266; Total Patient Days:29,500

    you do the math!