Pagosa Springs Medical Center (PSMC) in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, has agreed to pay $111,400 to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and to adopt a substantial corrective action plan in a settlement over alleged HIPAA violations.
In this month's HIPAA Q&A, we answer your questions about sending unencrypted emails to the right recipient, discussing patients with colleagues, scheduling appointments for spouses, and filing complaints against insurance companies.
Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Frisco, in Frisco, Texas, announced a data breach earlier this month affecting 47,000 patients and guarantors. The breach occurred in September when the hospital found an issue with a third-party vendor’s credit card processing system.
Q: Sometimes the emergency department where I work gets so busy we have to evaluate patients before they can be placed in a room. I have seen nurses perform examinations on patients on stretchers in hallways where they can easily be overheard discussing medical histories and treatment options. Would this be considered a HIPAA violation?
2018 was a year of large settlements and high-volume data breaches. According to OCR’s breach report portal, among the more than 250 reported data breaches under investigation, 14 incidents exposed the PHI of more than 100,000 individuals each.
