On Feb. 3, a HHS Administrative Law Judge ruled in favor of the OCR’s action to seek civil monetary penalties. The OCR began an investigation following a complaint that a Lincare employee removed documents containing protected health information from the company’s office, left the information exposed and then abandoned it, according to the report.
Lincare argued it did not violate HIPAA because the information was “‘stolen’ by the individual who discovered it on the premises previously shared with the Lincare employee,” according to the report.
The Administrative Law Judge rejected this argument, ultimately siding with the OCR’s finding of inadequate policies and procedures in place to protect patient information. Lincare has since taken action to ensure HIPAA compliance.
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