What are the penalties for not reporting a HIPAA violation?

Civil penalties typically involve fines imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). These HIPAA violation penalties can vary depending on factors such as the nature of the violation, the level of negligence, and the number of individuals affected. The OCR can issue penalties ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation, with a maximum annual cap of $1.5 million for multiple violations of the same provision.

Criminal penalties are more severe and can result in imprisonment. They are typically pursued in cases of deliberate and willful HIPAA violations. Criminal HIPAA penalties can range from fines of $50,000 to $250,000, along with imprisonment for up to 10 years, depending on the nature and intent of the violation.

Additionally, noncompliance with HIPAA can have non-monetary HIPAA violation consequences, such as damage to an individual or organization’s reputation, loss of trust among patients, and legal liabilities through civil lawsuits.

How to Achieve HIPAA Compliance?

HIPAA regulation outlines a set of national standards that all covered entities and business associates must address.

• Self-Audits – HIPAA mandates that covered entities and business associates perform periodic audits of their organizations to identify administrative, technological, and physical deficiencies in HIPAA Privacy and Security standards enforcement. A Security Risk Assessment is not enough to comply under HIPAA – it is just one of the critical audits that HIPAA-covered organizations must conduct yearly to ensure compliance.
• Remediation Plans – After completing these self-audits, protected companies and business associates must execute remediation measures to correct enforcement breaches. 
• Policies, Procedures, Employee Training – The HIPAA Rules require covered organizations and business associates to establish Policies and Procedures that comply with HIPAA regulatory requirements. 
• Documentation – The HIPAA Rules require covered entities and business associates to develop policies and procedures that conform to HIPAA’s regulatory requirements. 
• Business Associate Management – To ensure PHI is treated safely and mitigate liability, covered organizations and business associates must document all third-party vendors with whom they share PHI in some way and sign Business Associate Agreements.
• Incident Management – If a protected company or business partner experiences a data breach, they must follow the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule to log the incident and warn patients that their information has been compromised.