Criminal Liabilities Under HIPAA

• Overview
• Agenda
• Faculty
• Credits

Benefits

Many hospitals, physician offices and other covered entities have been surprised to learn that HIPAA rules provide for criminal penalties - up to 10 years in prison for intentional violations! Now the stakes are higher and there are more stakeholders: recent stimulus legislation dramatically increased the stakes for HIPAA compliance by substantially increasing penalties for HIPAA violations, establishing mandatory breach notification requirements, applying many HIPAA privacy and security requirements to business associates (law firms, consultants, accounting firms, etc.), tightened HIPAA privacy requirements and establishing new civil and criminal HIPAA penalties. Health plans, health care clearinghouses, health care providers and Medicare prescription drug card sponsors may be prosecuted criminally for HIPAA violations.

With ID theft on the rise, prosecutors are becoming more aggressive in enforcing HIPAA laws, particularly when intent to illegally obtain patient information is involved. In addition, failing to be aware of criminal liability under HIPAA can lull health care providers into lax compliance efforts, thus exposing health care providers and individuals to increasingly severe sanctions. More importantly, depending on the facts of a given case, directors, officers and employees may also be directly liable in accordance with general principles of corporate criminal liability, as those principles are developed in the course of particular prosecutions.

Don't miss this important teleconference on how you can protect your organization from criminal prosecution. Catch up on the latest trends in HIPAA compliance with this timely presentation.