A dentist in Pennsylvania accused of failing to provide timely access to a patient’s protected health information (PHI) has agreed to settle the case, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Dr. Linda Shen, the owner and operator of Shen Smiles in Drums, PA, has agreed to pay $140,000 to HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to resolve the allegations, according to a press release dated October 8 from the HHS.
The OCR initiated an investigation into Shen Smiles for potential HIPAA violations after receiving a complaint that the practice failed to provide a patient with timely access to her PHI. Despite multiple requests, the practice allegedly never provided the information, according to the press release.
During the investigation, Shen asserted that the practice could not provide the patient with access to her PHI because an employee had stolen the records from the practice.
The investigation concluded that Shen Smiles failed to implement policies and procedures with respect to PHI that aim to adhere to privacy and breach notification rules.
Additionally, it concluded that Shen Smiles failed to implement right-of-access policies and procedures, and it didn’t reasonably protect the health information from any intentional or unintentional use or disclosure that would violate privacy rule requirements, according to the press release.
