What to Do When a Doctor Violates HIPAA?

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a patient’s health information should always remain private and protected. This allows you to decide who can look at and receive your health information, whether provided electronically, orally or via another format. You may wonder what to do when a doctor violates HIPAA so you can protect your rights.

HIPAA Complaint

• You can contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) office to file a complaint. The complaint against the doctor should be filed on paper or via electronic submission through mail, fax or an email. You should name the entity or physician’s office involved in the HIPAA violation and discuss the acts or omission for the violation. The complaint should be filed within 180 days of when the act occurred. If you can show justification for filing late, the OCR may extend the filing complaint. If you choose to file a complaint by mail or fax, you should send the information about the HIPAA violation to the OCR regional office. Ten offices are located in the United States, each of which cover specific states.

Written Complaint

• If you do not want to file a complaint using the HIPAA package, you may also submit a written complaint and include your name, address, phone numbers, email address, the full contact information of the person who violated your medical privacy with a description of what happened, other relevant information and your signature and date. If you file the complaint for a friend or family member, you should include the name of the person on whose behalf you are filing. You may need to include information for special accommodations, who else to contact and whether you have filed your complaint with anyone else.

Medical Board

• You may also consider filing a complaint with the medical board in the state in which the physician operates or where patient care was rendered. Make sure you include your contact information, that of the physician and the nature of the complaint.