HHS Puts Industry on Notice: OCR is Serious About HIPAA Enforcement
On Feb. 22, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced that it had issued a civil money penalty (CMP) of $4.3 million against Cignet Health of Prince George’s County, MD., the first imposition of a CMP by OCR for a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Two days later, HHS announced that General Hospital Corporation and Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, Inc., collectively referred to as Mass General, agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Read More...
