Life Hope Labs, a medical laboratory in Sandy Springs, Ga., has agreed to pay $16,500 to HHS to settle a complaint that it didn't provide timely access to patient health records.
A 2021 complaint alleged that Life Hope Labs took more than seven months to provide a personal representative with a copy of her deceased father's medical records.
"Laboratories covered by HIPAA must follow the law and ensure that they are responding timely to records access requests," said Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the HHS Office of Civil Rights, in a Jan. 3 agency news release.
The lab also agreed to a corrective action plan that includes two years of monitoring. The settlement marks the 43rd case to be resolved under HIPAA's right-of-access provision.