Office for Civil Rights HIPAA enforcement actions, investigations, and compliance strategies
In 2023, OCR settled with a New England dermatology practice for $300,640 after the organization failed to provide a patient timely access to their
In January 2024, a medical receptionist in Texas discovered her supervisor was accessing patient records for personal reasons — looking up neighbors, family members, even local
In 2023, OCR investigated a research institution that published a dataset it believed was fully de-identified — only to discover that zip codes and dates of
In December 2022, OCR issued a bulletin explicitly warning healthcare organizations about the use of tracking technologies on websites and mobile apps — including pixels from
In 2016, OCR settled with North Memorial Health Care of Minnesota for $1.55 million after determining that a business associate had provided PHI access
A mid-size behavioral health practice in the Southeast received a subpoena demanding the complete treatment records of a current patient involved in a custody dispute.
In 2023, OCR settled with a health system for $1.3 million after investigators found the organization had failed to implement even basic access controls
When HHS announced in late 2024 that the COVID-era telehealth enforcement discretion would not be extended indefinitely, many healthcare organizations realized they had been operating
When OCR announced in May 2023 that the COVID-era telehealth HIPAA enforcement discretion was ending, thousands of healthcare organizations realized they had been operating on
When a major Texas health system paid $1.6 million in state penalties for unauthorized disclosures of protected health information, it wasn't a
In 2023, a dental practice in Texas agreed to a $50,000 settlement with OCR after an investigation revealed staff members were texting appointment reminders
In 2023, a dental practice in Texas paid a $50,000 settlement to the HHS Office for Civil Rights after an employee texted patient appointment
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