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Question 61

SCENARIO -

Please use the following to answer the next question:

You are the chief privacy officer at HealthCo, a major hospital in a large U.S. city in state A. HealthCo is a HIPAA-covered entity that provides healthcare services to more than 100,000 patients. A third-party cloud computing service provider, CloudHealth, stores and manages the electronic protected health information (ePHI) of these individuals on behalf of HealthCo. CloudHealth stores the data in state B. As part of HealthCo’s business associate agreement (BAA) with CloudHealth, HealthCo requires CloudHealth to implement security measures, including industry standard encryption practices, to adequately protect the data. However, HealthCo did not perform due diligence on CloudHealth before entering the contract, and has not conducted audits of CloudHealth’s security measures.

A CloudHealth employee has recently become the victim of a phishing attack. When the employee unintentionally clicked on a link from a suspicious email, the PHI of more than 10,000 HealthCo patients was compromised. It has since been published online. The HealthCo cybersecurity team quickly identifies the perpetrator as a known hacker who has launched similar attacks on other hospitals – ones that exposed the PHI of public figures including celebrities and politicians.

During the course of its investigation, HealthCo discovers that CloudHealth has not encrypted the PHI in accordance with the terms of its contract. In addition, CloudHealth has not provided privacy or security training to its employees. Law enforcement has requested that HealthCo provide its investigative report of the breach and a copy of the PHI of the individuals affected.

A patient affected by the breach then sues HealthCo, claiming that the company did not adequately protect the individual’s ePHI, and that he has suffered substantial harm as a result of the exposed data. The patient’s attorney has submitted a discovery request for the ePHI exposed in the breach.

Which of the following would be HealthCo’s best response to the attorney’s discovery request?

    Correct Answer: B

    HealthCo’s best response to the plaintiff’s attorney’s discovery request is to respond with a request for satisfactory assurances such as a qualified protective order. A qualified protective order ensures that the PHI is only used for the litigation or proceeding for which it was requested and that it must be returned or destroyed at the end of the litigation. This approach balances the need to protect individuals’ ePHI while also satisfying the legal discovery process.

Discussion
7cae8a8Option: A

No its actually A. Here's why: PHI may not be disclosed, except to the individual patient; as part of treatment, payment, or healthcare operations; as incident to other permitted or required disclosures; or under valid authorization from the individual.

BhimeshOption: B

The HIPAA Privacy Rule - the standards for a “qualified protective order” (QPO), which applies in state courts that are not covered by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. A QPO prohibits the parties from using or disclosing the protected health information for any purpose other than the litigation or proceeding for which such information was requested. It also requires the return to the covered entity or destruction of the protected health information (including copies) at the end of the litigation. If a QPO is in place, a covered entity complies with privacy requirements for disclosure in litigation or administrative proceedings

Bhimesh

Not D. Respond with a redacted document only relative to the plaintiff A large amount of personal information may be disclosed to parties in the course of civil litigation. Courts can issue protective orders to prohibit disclosure of personal information revealed in litigation, and “Attorneys increasingly are required to Redact” Social Security numbers and other sensitive information when filing documents with the courts

easyambition1046Option: C

C is correct because it's asking about the individual's ePHI disclosed in the breach. An individual has a right to their ePHI under HIPAA/HITECH. A request for their records can be appropriately made through their attorney. You don't need a QPO and you can't redact records when you're sending it to the individual or their legal rep.

smp175Option: B

Best answer is B given the provided study material. D is not necessarily incorrect, but B more fully identifies the appropriate course of action.

[Removed]Option: B

A covered entity may disclose PHI subject to a discovery request if satisfactory assurances are provided. An assurance is satisfactory under HIPAA if the parties seeking the request for information have agreed to a qualified protective order and have submitted it to the court, or if the party seeking the information has requested a qualified protective order from the court.

BoatsOption: D

By doing C the company would be putting themselves at risk for another data breach. I would go with D.