HHS fined Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health $100,000 for failing to provide timely access to medical records under HIPAA.
HHS' Office of Civil Rights said it received a complaint in 2020 that Hackensack Meridian Health West Caldwell (N.J.) Care Center, a skilled nursing facility, withheld access to a son's request to access his mother's medical records, even though he'd demonstrated that he acted as her personal representative.
"A patient's timely access to health records is paramount for medical care," OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said in an April 1 news release. "OCR will continue to vigorously enforce this essential right to ensure compliance by healthcare facilities across the country."
OCR said it determined that Hackensack failed to provide a timely response to the son's HIPAA right-of-access request, and that the health system waived its right to a hearing and didn't contest the findings. So OCR levied a civil money penalty of $100,000.
"While we no longer own WCCC, we acknowledge and fully support the Office for Civil Rights' efforts to ensure patients' access to their health records, but we believe OCR's insistence on a punitive outcome in this matter is highly unfortunate, particularly given the circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic," a Hackensack spokesperson told Becker's.
"WCCC personnel, who tirelessly navigated the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, made a mistake of good faith during a records access request amid the crisis, which put an unprecedented strain on staffing. The error was promptly rectified upon WCCC's awareness. We are fully committed to complying with all federal laws and regulations and promptly ensuring that our patients have their requested medical records."