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WASHINGTON – The Rite Aid Corporation and 40 affiliated companies have agreed to pay $1 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid also signed a consent order with the Federal Trade Commission to settle potential violations of the FTC Act.
The drug store chain was charged with disposing of individual health information in an industrial trash container accessible to unauthorized people, which is not compliant with several requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and exposes the information to the risk of identity theft and other crimes.
The company has agreed to take corrective action to improve policies and procedures to safeguard the privacy of its customers. The settlements apply to all of Rite Aid’s nearly 4,800 retail pharmacies and follow a joint investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights and the FTC.
“It is critical that companies, large and small, build a culture of compliance to protect consumers’ right to privacy and safeguard health information. OCR is committed to strong enforcement of HIPAA,” said Georgina Verdugo, director of the OCR. “We hope that this agreement will spur other health organizations to examine and improve their policies and procedures for protecting patient information during the disposal process.”
The OCR, which enforces the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, opened its investigation of Rite Aid after television media videotaped incidents in which pharmacies were shown to have disposed of prescriptions and labeled pill bottles containing individuals’ identifiable information in industrial trash containers that were accessible to the public. These incidents were reported as occurring in a variety of cities across the United States.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and most healthcare providers, including pharmacies, to safeguard the privacy of patient information, including during its disposal.
