In the most recent settlement, Arbour Hospital, a behavioral health facility in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, agreed to pay $65,000 and take corrective actions.
A version of this article was first published March 30, 2021, by HCPro's Revenue Cycle Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on March 24 the 17th settlement of an enforcement action in its HIPAA Right-of-Access Initiative.
The initiative began in 2019 as HHS put an emphasis on supporting individuals’ right to timely access of their health records at a reasonable cost.
In the most recent settlement, Arbour Hospital, a behavioral health facility in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, agreed to pay $65,000 and take corrective actions to settle a potential violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s Right-of-Access standard.
The settlement stems from a patient complaint filed with OCR in July 2019 alleging that Arbour failed to respond to a patient’s request for records in a timely manner. The request was first made in May 2019, according to the settlement agreement. OCR offered technical assistance to Arbour to help with the HIPAA Right of Access requirements, but a second complaint was filed later in the month alleging that Arbour still had not responded to the patient’s request for records. OCR then initiated an investigation and found that Arbour’s failure to provide timely access to patient records was a potential HIPAA violation. Arbour provided the patient with a copy of the requested records in November 2019, more than five months after the initial request.
As part of the corrective action plan, Arbour agreed to develop, maintain, and revise policies and procedures and provide HHS with access to the policies and procedures for review and approval. Arbour agreed to implement policies and procedures within 45 days of receiving the revisions from HHS.
In addition, Arbour agreed to submit its training materials to HHS for review. Upon receiving approval from HHS on any revisions to training materials, Arbour must provide training for each appropriate workforce member and relevant business associates within 60 days.
The resolution agreement does not represent an admission of liability by Arbour.
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