The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently published an executive summary (Report) outlining key enforcement activities of the Health.
Report on Patient Privacy Volume 22, Number 11. (November 2022) Nearly five years passed from the time the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reported to the.
Report on Patient Privacy 22, no. 5 (May, 2022) - Compared to other agencies, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a little fish in the big federal pond, but it has.
HIPAA
Shannon B. Hartsfield
To date, there has been little consistency in how Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements are enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the amount of settlements or penalties. In
Univ. of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Servs. No. 19-60226, 2021 WL 127819 (5th Cir. Jan. 14, 2021), the court vacated significant penalties against M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (M.D. Anderson) in a manner that could lead to changes to HIPAA enforcement in the future. The court found that HHS decision to fine M.D. Anderson $4,348,000 was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.
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On January 14, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the civil monetary penalty (CMP) imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) against the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (M.D. Anderson) in 2017. The court stated that HHS “offered no lawful basis for its civil monetary penalties against M.D. Anderson” and HHS’ “decision was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.”
History of the Case
Between 2012 and 2013, M.D. Anderson notified HHS of three separate HIPAA breaches, all involving lost or stolen mobile devices, affecting the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of approximately 35k patients. After conducting an investigation, HHS imposed a civil monetary penalty (CMP) of $4,348,000 on M.D. Anderson.