DGS Health Law Blog : Denver Health Care Lawyers & Attorneys : Davis Graham & Stubbs Law Firm : HIPAA & Patient Privacy : Colorado, Rocky Mountain West

On the heels of the Cignet Health civil monetary penalty for $4.3 million only two days ago, the OCR has announced today that Mass General, one of the country's oldest and largest hospitals, has agreed to pay HHS $1 million to settle potential HIPAA violations.  The incident leading to this settlement involved an employee who brought documents on the subway with her, as she intended to work on them at home.  Unfortunately for Mass General, those documents contained PHI of 192 individuals and the employee accidentallty left the documents on the subway.  In addition to the million dollar payment, Mass General also agreed to enter into a Corrective Action Plan, which requires the hospital to develop additional privacy policies and procedures, ensure that employees complete additional HIPAA training, and provide HHS with semi-annual reports for the next three years.  The settlement agreement and Corrective Action Plan are available here.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

HHS imposed the first civil monetary penalty for a HIPAA violation against Cignet Health.  The $4.3 million penalty arose from Cignet's failure to allow 41 patients access to their medical records.  It was then exacerbated by Cignet's refusal to cooperate with the OCR's investigation.  Cignet's willful neglect of its obligation to cooperate with the government investigation ultimately cost it $3 million on top of the $1.3 CMP imposed for the underlying access violation.  Lest there be any lingering doubt, ignoring a government investigation won't make it go away!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As we have noted over and over again in previous posts, the federal government has significantly ramped up its Medicare fraud and abuse enforcement.  This time the crackdown on false billing schemes was staggering.  Yesterday, in the largest single-day health care fraud bust in U.S. history, the Medicare Fraud Task Force charged and arrested 111 people--including physicians, nurses, and health care company executives-who allegedly swindled the federal government out of more than $225 million.  These arrests took place in 9 major cities across the country.  More specifically, the claims against these health care professionals were for fraudulent claims for services that were never provided, kickback arrangements, money laundering, and identity theft.  More details available in the HHS/DOJ press release.

For most providers, these types of crackdowns are of little concern because they are targeting the most egregious and blatant fraud and abuse, and the overwhelming majority of providers are not involved in such schemes.  Events like this, however, should serve as a reminder to even the most cautious and upstanding providers that the federal government has become increasingly serious about health care fraud and abuse enforcement.  Between these enforcement efforts and increased auditing of providers through RAC audits, providers that remain vigilant will have a certain advantage over those that are not.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Here is an interesting article about the use of mobile telephone technologies in the future delivery of health care services. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Showing a continued resolve to combat health care fraud and abuse, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has launched a Most Wanted Fugitives List.  In an effort to engage the public in fighting health care fraud and abuse, the list identifies more than 170 individuals alleged to have committed health care fraud-related crimes.  According to the OIG's press release, the top ten individuals on this list have cost taxpayers over $124 million.  This announcement comes on the heels of the January 24, 2011 joint announcement by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services that the federal government recovered more than $4 billion taxpayer dollars in fiscal year 2010 from it's health care fraud prevention and enforcement efforts.  If the OIG's plan works and the public pitches in on the enforcement front as a result of the Most Wanted Fugitives List, 2011 could be another very busy year for the federal government's health care fraud and abuse team.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link