United Healthcare Insurance Company (“United”), one of the premier national payors, agreed to an $80,000 settlement in late August with the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”). This resolution relates to OCR’s Right of Access initiative, the agenda pushing for patients to have timely access to their health information. As part of this settlement, while United has not admitted to any wrongdoing, it has agreed to enter into a one-year corrective action plan (“CAP”) with OCR. This piece of news was covered by Saul Ewing LLP on JDSupra.
The Right of Access Initiate is a legislative movement that asserts and reinforces the rights of patients to receive their healthcare records promptly and without hurdles. It aims at imposing tangible repercussions to healthcare providers and associated entities who fail to deliver access to these records in a reasonable timespan. This $80,000 settlement serves as a sobering reminder for corporations of the serious financial implications of non-compliance with federal regulations.
The specifics of United’s Corrective Action Plan remain to be seen, although it’s expected to center around reformation of policies and procedures to guarantee unabridged access to personal health information by patients. This could potentially involve implementing better training programs for the staff dealing with health records and improving IT infrastructure for more seamless patient access.
Whilst United did not admit to any infractions, the agreement to enter into a CAP is a clear signal of the repercussions potentially severe enough to warrant a proactive approach to compliance. This should serve as a wake-up call not only to healthcare providers but also to business associates to ensure that they have robust disclosure frameworks in place and that they rigorously adhere to them.
This case exemplifies the prevailing commitment of regulatory bodies toward protecting individual rights to personal health information. As corporations and law firms observe the developments of this case, it is also an opportune moment to reflect on their existing protocols, rectify any shortfalls and brace for more rigorous oversight from federal agencies taking up the cause of citizens’ rights to their health information.