What You Need To Know About Employers Who Violate HIPAA Laws

There can be civil and criminal proceedings initiated against employers who violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA stipulates certain employers are "covered entities" and these include health care service providers and health insurance companies. The U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights is authorized under HIPAA to impose penalties on individuals and health care providers depending on the nature and extent of the violation.

If the employer is a covered entity as specified by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act they would need to ensure that all employees who would be handling confidential information of patients are adequately trained in the various provisions of HIPAA. This will ensure that there are no unintentional violations of the Act.

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The violation by the employer can be unintentional or intentional and depending on its nature fines and imprisonment can be imposed. If the offence is unintentional the penalty is $100 per violation and there will be civil proceedings initiated against the employer. In most cases the employer is given a time period of 30 days to correct the violation filing which the fines will be imposed. Individuals can ask for an extension of time period to correct the violation and if it continues even after the extended time period expires there can be fines and penalties imposed on the employer. The employers must ensure that all employees who handle confidential patient information are well trained in the various rules and regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. If an employee has been found to be violating any of the guidelines of HIPAA they can be dismissed by the employer as per the policies of the health care service providers. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that all confidential information of the patient is secured and protected. Access to this protected information should be restricted. There should be proper authorization to access the confidential information. If any of these responsibilities are not adequately fulfilled by the employer it can result in violations and there can be fines and penalties imposed on them. Criminal proceedings can be initiated against employers who willingly violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The penalties can be fines and imprisonment. The amount of fine and term of imprisonment can vary depending on the nature of the violation that has been committed by the employer. In case of criminal proceedings the fines can be $50,000 and above for each violation and there is also a maximum limit that is fixed of there are subsequent violations. The imprisonment period can also vary from one year to ten years depending on the nature of the violation.

In most cases written permission would need to be taken from the patient to access protected information. Written permission can be exempted in some cases as stipulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Employers would need to be aware of the various changes that place in HIPAA and keep their employees updated about it to ensure compliance.

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