Northeast Radiology, a medical imaging operator in New York and Connecticut, has agreed to pay a $350,000 fine for a HIPAA violation. This settlement follows an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), stemming from a 2020 data breach. The breach involved the exposure of electronic protected health information (ePHI) of 298,532 individuals due to vulnerabilities in the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). In addition to the financial penalty, the company must follow a corrective action plan for two years to ensure future compliance with HIPAA standards.
The breach was reported by Northeast Radiology after a hacking incident on March 11, 2020, that exposed medical images and ePHI, including names, test results, medical record numbers, dates of service, and Social Security numbers. Security researchers had previously warned Northeast Radiology and its vendor, Alliance HealthcCare Services, about vulnerabilities in PACS. Despite the warnings, unauthorized individuals accessed sensitive patient data between April 2019 and January 2020.
Though the breach was reported as affecting over 298,000 individuals, Northeast Radiology confirmed that only 29 individuals were directly impacted.
OCR’s investigation revealed that Northeast Radiology had failed to perform a proper HIPAA-compliant risk analysis, a critical requirement under HIPAA’s Security Rule. A comprehensive risk analysis is necessary to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities to ePHI. The lack of such an analysis was deemed a significant oversight, one that contributed to the breach.
As part of the corrective action plan, Northeast Radiology is required to conduct a thorough risk analysis, develop a risk management plan, and improve policies and procedures for protecting ePHI. The company must also implement regular reviews of information system activities, update its HIPAA and security training, and distribute policies to its workforce.
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