The Unfortunate Consequences of HIPAA Violations

Health Data Management recently published an article about CardioNet, a vendor of ambulatory cardiac monitoring products, having to pay a $2.5 million fine and follow a 2-year corrective action plan due to a HIPAA violation.

The settlement follows the 2012 theft of a laptop from an employee’s car that compromised the security of electronic protected health information for 1,391 individuals.

Per the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, CardioNet had poor risk analysis and risk management processes in place when the theft took place.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of personal health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.

AccuShred helps medical facilities maintain their HIPAA compliance by providing secure containers for the storage of PHI and then destroying that personal health information.

Learn more about our variety of secure container options.