Miami Resident Sentenced to 108 Months in Prison for Defrauding Medicare Part D
A Miami resident was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to 108 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $20,988,632 in restitution. Wifredo Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Shimon Richmond, Special Agent in Charge, Health and Human Services,…
Read MoreTWO THIRDS OF HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS LACK CONFIDENCE IN DATA SHARING
A recent survey conducted by Privacy Analytics, a Canadian technology firm specializing in data masking and data de-identification technology, indicates two out of three healthcare organizations do not have complete confidence in their ability to share patient health information without placing patient privacy at risk. HIPAA and Data Sharing Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, covered…
Read MoreTriple-S Management Corporation Settles HHS Charges by Agreeing to $3.5 Million HIPAA Settlement
Triple-S Management Corporation (“TRIPLE-S”), on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Triple-S Salud Inc., Triple-C Inc. and Triple-S Advantage Inc. , formerly known as American Health Medicare Inc., has agreed to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules with the U.S. Department of Health…
Read MoreFive New Cases of Healthcare Employee Theft Reported
Healthcare employee data theft is a common occurrence, yet it is difficult to prevent determined employees from stealing healthcare data. A number of safeguards can be put in place to reduce the opportunity for data theft, and controls can be implemented to ensure that instances of theft are rapidly identified, but it is impossible to…
Read MoreLawsuit Highlights the Importance of Conducting Training on HIPAA Privacy Rules
On Monday this week, a case against University of Cincinnati Medical Center (UCMC) was heard by Judge Jody Luebbers in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court regarding the posting of Protected Health Information of a patient on social media. The incident that triggered the lawsuit concerned the posting of a patient’s medical records by a…
Read MoreWoman Sentenced to Nearly Eight Years in Prison for Healthcare Fraud
A Richmond Heights woman was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison for operating an $18 million home healthcare fraud scheme, law enforcement officials said. Sharon Ward, 45, was sentenced to 94 months in prison and ordered to pay $18 million in restitution after previously being found guilty to healthcare fraud and aggravated identity theft.…
Read MoreOIG Criticizes OCR for Lax Enforcement Standards and Poor Oversight of Covered Entities
Take a look at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights website and you will discover relatively few financial penalties have been issued for HIPAA Privacy violations. Even apparently serious violations of HIPAA Rules have not always resulted in financial penalties being issued. Out of the thousands of data breaches listed…
Read MoreData Breach Laws in California Updated
Data breach laws in California have been updated following the signing of three new bills by California Governor Jerry Brown. The new bills were passed as a single package, and will come into effect on January 1, 2016. The new bills – Assembly Bill 964 (A.B. 964), Senate Bill 570 (S.B. 570) and Senate Bill…
Read MoreMedical Biller Sentenced to 45 Months in Prison for Health Care Fraud Scheme
The medical biller of a Chicago-area visiting physician practice was sentenced today to 45 months in prison for her role in a $4 million health care fraud scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois, Special Agent in Charge…
Read MoreFormer CVS Employee Steals PHI of 54K Molina Healthcare Members
A former employee of CVS, an Over-the-Counter benefits vendor contracted by Molina Healthcare, has been discovered to have stolen the Protected Health Information (PHI) of 54,203 current and former members of Molina Medicare Options Plus HMO SNP. The unnamed employee emailed data from a work computer to a personal email account on March 26, 2015,…
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