What are the penalties for violating HIPAA?
Breaking HIPAA’s privacy or security rules can mean either a civil or criminal sanction. Civil penalties are usually fines. These are the result of “inadvertent violations,” not necessarily resulting in personal gain. These penalties can result in fines of up to $100 for each violation of a requirement per individual. For instance, if the health facility released 100 patient records, it could be fined $100 for each record, for a total of $10,000. $25,000 is the annual limit for violating each requirement or prohibition. Criminal sanctions could involve monetary penalties and jail time. For the time being, the agency has issued the following statement regarding their enforcement activities: “Enforcement activities will focus on obtaining voluntary compliance through technical assistance. The process will be primarily complaint driven and will consist of progressive steps that will provide opportunities to demonstrate compliance or submit a corrective action plan.” Can the privacy office
