Park Nicollet Clinic disclosed last week it has suspended more than 100 employees over the past year for violating HIPAA rules. The suspended employees' violations consisted largely of looking at electronic medical records of relatives or friends, but that doesn't mitigate their seriousness, officials said. The employees were typically given three-day suspensions without pay if they were found to have violated HIPAA.
The clinic didn't say how it found out about the violations, but it's likely Park Nicollet has technology in place to catch the wrongdoers. Increasingly, providers are using monitoring systems that scan for inappropriate access to EMRs. With these system, supervisors can find out exactly which employee scanned what record. Some systems even send supervisors a note if an employee uses data that might not be within the scope of their job.
To find out more about Park Nicollet's policies:
- read this Star Tribune article
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