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HIPAA Compliant News Articles and Enforcement
Federal Jury Convicts Dallas Anesthesiologist on Health Care Fraud Offenses
DALLAS — Following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor and approximately three hours of deliberation, a federal jury has convicted Dr. Richard Ferdinand Toussaint, Jr., a licensed anesthesiologist, on all counts of a superseding indictment charging seven counts of health care fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District…
OCR Confirms Next Round of HIPAA Compliance Audits Will Be Published in April
Office for Civil Rights deputy director of health information privacy, Deven McGraw, has provided an update on the OCR’s planned HIPAA compliance audits, saying the revised protocol for the long-awaited second round of compliance audits will be published next month. Late last year, OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels announced that the next round of audits would…
Two Dallas-Area Doctors and Four Others Charged for Roles in $13.4 Million Medicare Fraud Scheme
Six individuals, including two Dallas-area doctors, were charged in a superseding indictment that was unsealed today for their alleged participation in a $13.4 million health care fraud scheme involving fraudulent claims for home health services. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District…
PHYSICAL THERAPY PROVIDER AGREES TO 25K HIPAA VIOLATION SETTLEMENT
OCR has announced it has arrived at a settlement with a Los Angeles-based provider of physical therapy services after the discovery of HIPAA Privacy Rule violations in 2012. Complete P.T., Pool & Land Physical Therapy, Inc., (CPT) has agreed to pay a fine of $25,000 to the Department of Health and Human Services after the…
Survey Indicates Law Firms Are Not Complying With HIPAA Rules
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) covers healthcare providers, health insurers, and healthcare clearinghouses, and all covered entities are required to comply with HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules. HIPAA also applies to vendors and other companies doing business with covered entities, which are classed as HIPAA Business Associates (BAs). If a…
Dropbox is a Great Product But Does it Belong In Your Business?
Dropbox is recognized as the first company that made cloud file sync simple and free. Today, with 400 million users as of June 2015, the service is one of the fastest growing in the world. But amidst this rapid adoption, business owners are asking, “Is Dropbox safe for my business to use?” Before we answer…
Lincare Inc to Pay $239,800 CMP for HIPAA Violation
For only the second time in its history, OCR has ordered a HIPAA-covered entity to pay civil monetary penalties for HIPAA violations. Lincare Inc., is required to pay $239,800 for violations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule which were discovered during the investigation of a complaint about a breach of 278 patient records. The Privacy Rule…
Six Unencrypted Hard Drives Containing PHI Reported Missing by Centene Corporation
Wisconsin-based health insurer, Centene Corporation, has announced the loss of six unencrypted computer hard drives containing the protected health information of approximately 950,000 of its members. The hard drives were being used for a project to improve the health outcomes of plan members. The individuals impacted by the security breach had all received laboratory services…
Registered Nurse Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Healthcare Fraud
DALLAS — A 52-year-old registered nurse and home health company owner from Cedar Hill, Texas, was sentenced this morning in federal court in Dallas on a health care fraud conspiracy conviction, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Patricia Akamnonu was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to the…