Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle a potential violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule's Right of Access standard, which requires healthcare organizations to give patients copies of their medical records quickly and at a reasonable cost.
The settlement announced Feb. 10 was the 15th issued by the Office of Civil Rights for its HIPAA Right of Access Initiative.
OCR received a complaint in February 2019 alleging Renown Health failed to timely respond to a patient's request for an electronic copy of her protected health information to be sent to a third party. OCR launched an investigation and found that the health system did not provide timely access to the requested records, including billing records.
As a result of the investigation, Renown Health provided access to all the requested records and will pay the $75,000 financial settlement. The health system will also undergo a corrective action plan that includes two years of monitoring by the OCR.