OCR Resolves HIPAA Right of Access Case With FL Primary Care Practice

The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached a HIPAA right of access settlement with Health Specialists of Central Florida. The primary care practice paid OCR $20,000 to resolve the potential HIPAA violation and agreed to implement a corrective action plan (CAP).

OCR launched an investigation into Health Specialists of Central Florida after the daughter of a deceased patient filed a complaint with OCR in November 2019. The complainant made a written access request for her father’s medical records in August 2019 but did not receive them until January 2020 after multiple requests.

The HIPAA right of access standard requires covered entities to respond to requests for records within 30 days of receipt, or 60 days with an extension. This case is the 42nd case resolved under OCR’s HIPAA Right of Access Initiative.

“The right of patients to access their health information is one of the cornerstones of HIPAA, and one that OCR takes seriously. We will continue to ensure that health care providers and health plans take this right seriously and follow the law,” OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said in a press release. 

“Today’s announcement speaks to the importance of accessing information and regulated entities taking steps to implement procedures and workforce training to ensure that they are doing all they can to help patients access.”

Health Specialists of Central Florida agreed to a corrective action plan with two years of monitoring. The CAP requires the practice to develop, maintain, and revise its written privacy procedures and policies, distribute them to the workforce, and review and update its right of access to PHI policy.