HIPAA Violator gets jail time

For the first time, a health care provider has been found guilty of a HIPAA violation and may be subject to jail time for looking at patient records. 

Click here to read the article. The short version is that a doctor who was terminated from UCLA spent time looking at patient records prior to his departure.  His intentions may have been completely reasonable, but if he had access and was looking at the data for personal interest and not for the execution of the study, then his is in the wrong.  If his defense is that he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong, he may learn a difficult lesson.  Not knowing it is wrong is not a valid reason and would leave the institution open for more scrutiny.  

The upshot is that the courts are taking HIPAA violations seriously, and these types of things are always a good reminder to make sure that your systems are as secure as possible and the members of your team are well trained and aware.