Smith-Lightfoot was suspended from working as a nurse for one year and given a three year probation period following her suspension. GRN paid a $15,000 fine and trained all employees on HIPAA rules and regulations. 2 Both Smith-Lightfoot and Greater Rochester Neurology (her new workplace) received punishments. This information included patients’ names, dates of birth, addresses, and diagnoses. The state of New York suspended a former nurse, Maria Smith-Lightfoot, for taking a list of patients from her previous job to her new workplace.She could face 11 years in prison and/or a $350,000 fine. Kalina used her position to gather the PHI of 111 patients with the intent to cause harm. A federal grand jury indicted Linda Sue Kalina, a former patient information coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, on 6 counts of wrongfully obtaining and disclosing PHI.The following cases are three real-life examples of level three HIPAA violations from earlier this year: Depending on the severity of the case, they may prosecute the offender. If the case is serious enough, the violation may need to be reported to state or federal authorities. We advise employers to dismiss employees who commit this type of infraction. Recommended Sanction Policies for Category Three HIPAA Violation An employee may commit an offense so serious that it is automatically classified as level three, even if it is their first infraction. It is important to note that these violations do not necessarily happen in sequential order. This type of offense includes the following: repeating low-level mistakes for the third time in three years, repeat mid-level infractions, and very serious infractions intended to cause harm to many people. Third simple infraction or second serious infraction in 3 years These types of HIPAA violations may not seem as serious, but they have the potential to cause just as much harm as level three HIPAA violations. In fact, business owners are more likely to have to deal with low-level offenses. The first and second kinds of infractions typically do not receive any publicity, but that does not make them any less important. If one of your employees commits a level two infraction, we recommend a written l etter of reprimand and one week’s suspension without pay. Recommended Sanction Policies for Category Two HIPAA Violation This also includes first-time serious offenses, like logging in to client/patient information of a neighbor or a relative. If an employee makes the same type of mistake described above again after receiving a warning, their infraction is labeled category two. Second simple infraction or first serious infraction in three years It should be stored in their file for 6 years. The letter should notify them of their wrongdoing and warn them of punishments for further infractions. Recommended Sanction Policies for Category One HIPAA Violationįor this type of violation, we recommend writing a letter of reprimand to the employee. These offenses may seem small, but they could easily cause a breach. This includes employees sending PHI via unencrypted email or failing to log out of a database, therefore leaving PHI vulnerable. First simple infraction in three yearsĪccidental exposures of PHI comprise the majority of these infractions. There are three levels of infractions, all with a recommended disciplinary HIPAA sanction: 1. Did the offender simply expose information? Or, did they use someone’s PHI for a specific purpose, like personal monetary gain?.Was the violation a single incident or a pattern of behavior ?.The HIPAA Sanction corresponds with the type of violation, and the following factors should be taken into consideration when classifying the level of the violation: However, it is important to do so consistently for the wellbeing of the company. Employers may find it difficult to enforce sanctions on employees who break the rules. Those who violate HIPAA may face fines from $100-250,000 per offense (with an annual cap at $1.5 million ) and/or a 1-10 year prison sentence. ![]() In addition to the employer imposed HIPAA sanctions, there are civil and criminal penalties associated with violating HIPAA law. So, we provide our suggested guidelines for HIPAA sanction policies. HIPAA does not mandate exactly how employers must discipline their employees in the workplace. When it comes to HIPAA law, the sanction policy is one of the most important factors employees must be aware of.
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