HIPAA Violations

HIPAA Violation
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HIPAA Violation
Accessing patient files illegally is one of the HIPAA violations. It occurs when an employee accesses patient information as a favor for a friend or relative, out of curiosity, or spite (Zabel, 2016). According to HIPAA regulations, if a nurse violates a rule by accident, it should be reported to the individual responsible for ensuring HIPAA compliance within the organization (the privacy officer). If a nurse knowingly violates HIPAA regulations, the same procedure applies. But unlike the case of accidental violation, knowingly contravening HIPAA rules results in disciplinary action (HPAA Journal, 2017).
Therefore, in the case of my colleague, I would be obligated to report him/her to the privacy officer. The privacy officer would then report the incident to law enforcement for investigations to be launched (HPAA Journal, 2017). Theft of protected health information (PHI) is a very serious violation. Such an incident would also have to be reported to the Office for Civil Rights before being referred...