Hipaa
Hipaa
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Case
The indictment of a former Cleveland Clinic Florida employee for conspiracy to commit health care fraud with personal information of more than 1,100 Naples patients isn’t likely to bring a hammer of civil fines against the hospital by the federal government, which has yet to sanction a hospital or other health care entity for patient privacy breaches.
But the former hospital employee at Cleveland Clinic in Weston and her Naples cousin, who was her alleged co-conspirator, will be the first in South Florida to be prosecuted for violating the federal law protecting patients’ privacy rights and the third such case nationally, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami.
In the middle are the Naples victims who, ironically, have little legal recourse because the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, does not provide individuals with the right to pursue legal action when there’s been a breach of their personal health information, according to several privacy rights and HIPAA attorneys. Their only option would be to bring suit under Florida privacy rights laws, but success hinges on proving actual damages from theft of their personal information.
Fernando Ferrer Jr., 29, of Naples, registered as an owner of Advanced Medical Claims Inc. in Naples, and his cousin, Isis Machado, 22, of Miami Lakes, were arrested and released on bond Sept. 8 on charges they stole information from the Naples patients for fraudulent purposes.
Machado worked at Cleveland Clinic in Weston from May 23, 2005, to June 26, 2006, during which time she had authorized access to patient information as a front desk coordinator. The indictment says she was told by her cousin, Ferrer, she could make money by selling him patient data. She allegedly downloaded and printed information about patients from the Cleveland Clinic Naples location only, which included Medicare beneficiary...