HIPAA Safety Rule creates a system for Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) that collects and analyzes data received from medical care providers and checks any medical errors in them. This is done to increase patient safety and quality health care in US. HIPAA safety rule provides patient safety work product (PSWP) to ensure fair usage of the information.
PSWP is the data (1) developed or accumulated by health care providers to send to a PSO that has been enlisted for Healthcare Research and Quality and is recorded in the patient safety evaluation system of the health care provider; (2) created by a PSO to conduct activities relating to patient safety; or (3) that identifies deliberations and the fact of a safety evaluation system for patients.
PSWP is a completely confidential and should be disclosed in only a handful of situations. This product should be held as confidential protected, no matter who is holding it.
If a person things that a covered entity under HIPAA or an individual has violated the safety and privacy rules and have disclosed PSWP, he or she can file an HIPAA complaint. This complaint can be filed with OCR who is responsible to investigate any filed HIPAA complaints and enforce all provisions of privacy and safety rule.
The OCR will investigate and provide all possible technical assistant to the complainant and help them get and informal resolution by persuading the violators to comply with the norms voluntarily. If OCR can’t get an informal resolution, the Secretary can ask the violator to pay a fine of up to $11,000 for every unlawful disclosure.
Following requirements should be fulfilled, in order to file an HIPAA complaint:
- It should be in writing and can be sent through email, mail or fax.
- The person who is the subject of complaint should be named in the complaint and all the alleged violations of HIPAA done should be described thoroughly.
- The complaints should filed in 6 months or 180 days following the realization of the violation. But in case there is a good reason, OCR can extend this time limit.
Anyone can file an HIPAA complaint as soon as he realizes that his or her privacy has been violated by any covered entity.