HIPAA Helper

Who is Revealing Your Private Medical Information?

This service from Pro Publica allows a person to search and find out whether your hospital, clinic, pharmacy or health insurer has been named in patient privacy complaints, breaches or violations. Pro Publica reports that this tool includes data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (which enforces HIPAA), the California Department of Public Health (which enforces California’s medical privacy laws) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (which tracks privacy violations at its vast network of veterans hospitals and clinics).

Sources reported from Pro Publica: Deficiencies cited by California Department of Public Health (January 1, 2012 to September 11, 2015, though some violations occurred earlier); Large privacy breaches reported to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (January 1, 2011 to November 6, 2015); Complaints resolved by HHS Office for Civil Rights (January 1, 2011 to July 31, 2014); privacy incident reports within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (January 1, 2011 to June 29, 2015).