There are occasions where HIPAA issues arise in personal injury cases. It’s important to know what your rights are. HIPAA is a federal statute. It protects the dissemination of medical information.
HIPAA Violations Personal Injury – Who Must Comply
Within the statute there are several covered entities. The covered entities are the entities that are primarily responsible for protecting your healthcare information. Those covered entities are health insurance companies, most healthcare providers and what are called “clearinghouses”. A clearinghouse is an entity that processes health information that they receive from another entity. They may be processing it in the form of summarizing it, extracting data from it, converting it from analog form into digital form.
Associated with those covered entities are what are called “business associates”. Business associates are typically contractors. They are not employees of the covered entity. They need to have access to your health information. Examples of these business associates are billing companies, companies that administer health plans, lawyers, accountants and IT specialists and also companies that store your medical records.
The covered entities must have contracts in place with their business associates that govern how the health information is to be safeguarded and how it may be distributed.
The business associates also must have contracts in place with their subcontractors that govern the same things.
HIPAA Violations Personal Injury-Who is not Covered?
There are several entities that may not be covered by the privacy rules. They are life insurers, employers, workers’ comp carriers, schools, state agencies and law enforcement agencies.
HIPAA Violations Personal Injury-What is Protected?
Overall what is protected is any information that your healthcare providers put into your medical records. Likewise any conversations that you have with your healthcare providers is protected. Metadata, which is information about your health insurance computer system is protected. Billing information is also protected. Covered entities must have safeguards in place to protect your information to limit its use and must have procedures in place as to who can look at your health information. Business associates have to do the same thing.
HIPAA Violations Personal Injury-Your Rights
Under the statute, you have a right to get a copy of your health information. You likewise have a right to make corrections to your health information if you believe that there is some error.
Also you have a right to get a report on when and why any of your health information was shared with anyone else.
HIPAA Violations Personal Injury-Sanctions
If there is a violation of HIPAA, then that violation is subject to punishment. The level of punishment depends upon the type of violation. That is, an unknowing violation is subject to a minimal penalty. A willful violation is subject to a more serious sanction. Any penalty that is required to be paid is paid to the government, not to the patient.
There may also be criminal charges against the person who violates the statute.
You may also have a right to file a lawsuit against the person who violated the statute. Those state claims, at least in Virginia, would consist of either a negligence claim, invasion of privacy claim or a breach of contract claim.
Any civil claim is somewhat dependent upon whether or not there has been some actual harm suffered by the patient. That actual harm could come in the form of a financial loss, damage to reputation or emotional harm. The latter is very difficult to prove.
In the Virginia case of Fairfax Hospital v. Curtis, 254 Va. 437 (1997), the court stated that the plaintiff has a basis for a malpractice claim for the defendant’s negligence in voluntarily disseminating confidential information in her medical records.
The point to be made is that patients do have rights. Those rights must be protected. If they are not protected, there are penalties in place that may be imposed against the person committing the violation.
Call, or contact us for a free consult. Also for more info on Hipaa see the Wikipedia pages.
