Today, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR), announced a settlement with Optum Medical Care of New Jersey (formerly known as Riverside Medical Group and Riverside Pediatric Group). Optum Medical Care is a multi-specialty physician group serving patients throughout New Jersey and Southern Connecticut. The settlement resolves multiple complaints filed with OCR concerning potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule’s Right of Access provision. The HIPAA Right of Access provision requires that individuals or their personal representatives have timely access to their health information for a reasonable cost. OCR’s investigation revealed that Optum failed to provide access within 30 calendar days. Optum has agreed to implement a corrective action plan to ensure timely access for patients to their records and pay $160,000 to resolve this matter. The agreement marks OCR’s 46th Right of Access enforcement action.
