An administrative law judge has upheld the authority of the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services to enforce HIPAA regulations and impose fines, the second time a judge has made such a ruling in OCR’s favor.
The decision means Lincare, a healthcare provider of respiratory care, infusion therapy and medical equipment to in-home patients, will have to pay $239,800 in civil money payments for an incident in which patient records were left unsecure. In the case, OCR charged that a Lincare employee took 278 patient records home and later left the records in the house after moving to live elsewhere. Another person who had lived in the home with the employee later found the records.
Court Rules that Health Providers Can be Held Accountable for Violating Patient Data Privacy
