Alaska Medicaid settles HIPAA security case for $1,700,000

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Alaska Medicaid settles HIPAA security case for $1,700,000

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), the state Medicaid agency, has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) $1,700,000 to settle possible violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule. Alaska DHSS has also agreed to take corrective action to properly safeguard the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of their Medicaid beneficiaries.

The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) began its investigation following a breach report submitted by Alaska DHSS as required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The report indicated that a portable electronic storage device (USB hard drive) possibly containing ePHI was stolen from the vehicle of a DHSS employee. Over the course of the investigation, OCR found evidence that DHSS did not have adequate policies and procedures in place to safeguard ePHI. Further, the evidence indicated that DHSS had not completed a risk analysis, implemented sufficient risk management measures, completed security training for its workforce members, implemented device and media controls, or addressed device and media encryption as required by the HIPAA Security Rule.

In addition to the $1,700,000 settlement, the agreement includes a corrective action plan that requires Alaska DHSS to review, revise, and maintain policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule. A monitor will report back to OCR regularly on the state's ongoing compliance efforts.

"Covered entities must perform a full and comprehensive risk assessment and have in place meaningful access controls to safeguard hardware and portable devices," said OCR Director Leon Rodriguez. "This is OCR's first HIPAA enforcement action against a state agency and we expect organizations to comply with their obligations under these rules regardless of whether they are private or public entities."

OCR enforces the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. The Privacy Rule gives individuals rights over their protected health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive that health information. The Security Rule protects health information in electronic form by requiring entities covered by HIPAA to use physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to ensure that electronic protected health information remains private and secure.

The HITECH Breach Notification Rule requires covered entities to report an impermissible use or disclosure of protected health information, or a "breach," of 500 individuals or more to the HHS Secretary Sebelius and the media. Smaller breaches affecting less than 500 individuals must be reported to the secretary on an annual basis.

Individuals who believe that a covered entity has violated their (or someone else's) health information privacy rights or committed another violation of the HIPAA Privacy or Security Rule may file a complaint with OCR at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/index.html.

The HHS Resolution Agreement can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/enforcement/examples/alaska-agreement.html

Additional information about OCR's enforcement activities can be found at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/enforcement/examples/index.html.