The federal Office for Civil Rights reached 10 settlements resolving HIPAA violations and one judgment in 2018, bringing in a record $28.7 million in fines.
2018's total surpassed the previous record of HIPAA fines set in 2016 of $23.5 million, and included the office's largest individual HIPAA settlement of $16 million with health insurer Anthem.
The 10 settlements and resulting fines, listed in the order of occurrence:
1. Filefax: $100,000
2. Fresenius Medical Care North America in Waltham, Mass.: $3.5 million
3. Boston Medical Center: $100,000
4. Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston: $384,000
5. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston: $515,000
6. Advanced Care Hospitalists in Lakeland, Fla.: $500,000
7. Allergy Associates of Hartford (Conn.): $125,000
8. Anthem: $16 million
9. Pagosa Springs (Colo.) Medical Center: $111,400
10. Cottage Health in Santa Barbara, Calif.: $3 million
The office's single judgment in 2018 involved MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and resulted in a fine of $4.348 million.