Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences’ (OSUCHS) breach might not have seemed all that serious at the time: No data is believed to have been misused, credit monitoring services were not offered and—another rarity—OSUCHS was never the subject of a class-action suit.
Yet last month, OUSUCHS found itself on the receiving end of a settlement with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for alleged HIPAA violations, paying $875,000 and agreeing to an extensive, two-year corrective action plan (CAP) that includes the little-employed requirement to appoint an “independent” monitor to oversee those efforts.[1]
An OSUCHS spokesperson told RPP the settlement was the product of lengthy negotiations with OCR.
This is the second recent agreement involving an academic health system. A day after the OSUCHS announcement, OCR said it had reached 11 additional agreements related to covered entities not providing patients access to their medical records—bringing the total settlements under this initiative to 38.[2] Among them was Memorial Hermann Health System, which paid $200,000 related to two patients who lodged access complaints with OCR.
OCR said on July 14 its investigation found that OSUCHS violated the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification rules.[3]
Breach Notification Was Made in 2018
OCR refers in its documents to OSUCHS as OSU-CHS, which it described as a “public land-grant research university which provides preventive, rehabilitative, and diagnostic care in Oklahoma.” OCR’s documents show OSUCHS’ initial discovery of the breach was marked by misinformation and missteps, although the spokesperson provided more insights into what happened.
In a Jan. 5, 2018, public breach notice by the organization, OSUCHS officials said that on Nov. 7, 2017, they “learned an unauthorized third party had gained access to folders on the OSUCHS computer network. These folders stored Medicaid patient billing information. On November 8th, we took immediate action to remove the folders from the computer network and terminated the third party access. We also launched a thorough investigation, including hiring an independent data security firm. The firm assisted us in determining whether the folders had been compromised.”[4]
The notice, reported by DataBreaches.net, said OSUCHS’ investigation “could not rule out whether the third party explicitly accessed patient information. The information in the folders may have included patients’ names, Medicaid numbers, healthcare provider names, dates of service, and limited treatment information. It is important to note these folders did not contain medical records. A single social security number was contained on the server.”
Officials added that they had “no conclusive indication of any inappropriate use of patient information. However, out [of] an abundance of caution, we began mailing letters to affected patients on January 5, 2018. We also established a dedicated call center to answer any questions [you] may have. If you believe your information was affected and do not receive a letter by February 15, 2018, or if you have questions regarding this incident, please call 1-844-551-1727, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 8 pm Central Time. For patients affected by this incident, please be alert to any healthcare services you did not receive from any of your providers. If you learn of any services you did not receive, please contact your provider and Medicaid immediately.”
The notice ended with the familiar pledge to protect patient information. “At OSU Center for Health Sciences, we care deeply about our patients. Patient confidentiality is a critical part of our commitment to care and we work diligently to protect patient information. We apologize for any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause our patients. Since this incident, we have implemented additional security measures to enhance the protection of our patient information,” it said.
