A dental follow in North Carolina has been slapped with a hefty high-quality following disclosing a patient’s guarded wellbeing facts (PHI) on the web.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Place of work for Civil Legal rights (OCR) released an investigation into Dr. U. Phillip Igbinadolor, DMD. & Associates, PA, (UPI), in 2015 following getting a criticism from a male affected person.
The individual visited UPI’s place of work in Charlotte for dental procedure two times in between October 2013 and March 2014. On or all-around September 28 2015, the affected individual remaining a unfavorable critique of UPI on the dental practice’s Google site, making use of a pseudonym to mask his identification.

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UPI posted a response to the assessment, dismissing the patient’s accusations as “unsubstantiated accusations.” When putting up the response, the dental observe named the affected individual, the indicators the individual had experienced and the treatment advised but not provided to him.
The response, which involved a few mentions of the patient’s entire name, also showcased the condescending and derogatory statement: “From the foregoing, it is apparent that [Complainant’s full name] degree of intelligence is in problem and he really should keep on with his guide operate and not expose himself to ridicule.”
Amongst 2016 2019, OCR requested many paperwork from UPI, together with copies of the practice’s insurance policies and methods on responding to patients’ reviews online and on PHI disclosure and safeguarding.
The follow variously responded by presenting OCR with irrelevant documents, distributing only some of the asked for paperwork or by refusing or ignoring the office’s requests.
In a statement released Monday, the OCR explained: “Dr. U. Phillip Igbinadolor, DMD. & Associates, PA (UPI), a dental apply with places of work in Charlotte and Monroe, North Carolina, impermissibly disclosed a patient’s PHI on a webpage in reaction to a destructive on line review.
“UPI did not respond to OCR’s knowledge request, did not reply or object to an administrative subpoena, and waived its legal rights to a listening to by not contesting the conclusions in OCR’s Discover of Proposed Determination.”
OCR imposed a civil monetary penalty of $50,000 on UPI right after discovering that the exercise had impermissibly disclosed the patient’s PHI and figuring out the violation to be “willful neglect not corrected.”
Some sections of this posting are sourced from:
www.infosecurity-magazine.com