{"id":2239,"date":"2013-01-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otava.test\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/"},"modified":"2013-01-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-25T00:00:00","slug":"final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"

In addition to redefining the scope and liabilities of business associates<\/a> in the healthcare industry, the final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation<\/a> category. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) initially established a tiered penalty structure, it hasn\u2019t been revised until now.<\/p>\n

Section 160.404 refers to the amount of civil monetary penalty as administered under the HITECH<\/a> (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act. The original penalty structure used to be<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
VIOLATION TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\nMIN. PENALTY<\/strong><\/td>\nMAX. PENALTY<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Did Not Know<\/td>\n$100\/violation; annual max of
\n$25,000\/repeat violations<\/td>\n		$50,000\/violation; annual
\nmax of $1.5 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reasonable Cause<\/td>\n$100\/violation; annual max of
\n$25,000\/repeat violations<\/td>\n		$50,000\/violation; annual
\nmax of $1.5 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willful Neglect – Corrected<\/td>\n$10,000\/violation; annual max
\nof $250,000\/repeat violations<\/td>\n		$50,000\/violation; annual
\nmax of $1.5 million<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willful Neglect – Not Corrected<\/td>\n$50,000\/violation; annual max
\nof $1.5 million<\/td>\n		$50,000\/violation; annual
\nmax of $1.5 m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The new penalty structure is as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
VIOLATION TYPE<\/strong><\/td>\nEACH VIOLATION<\/strong><\/td>\nREPEAT VIOLATIONS\/YR
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Did Not Know<\/td>\n$100 – $50,000<\/td>\n$1,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reasonable Cause<\/td>\n$1,000 – $50,000<\/td>\n$1,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willful Neglect – Corrected<\/td>\n$10,000 – $50,000<\/td>\n$1,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Willful Neglect – Not Corrected<\/td>\n$50,000<\/td>\n$1,500,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

One-time violations stay under $50k, but repeat violations within the same year can hold a fine of $1.5 million across all HIPAA violation categories, up substantially from the previous $250k minimum. That\u2019s a bit of a hike. The new penalty structure aligns with recent data from the Ponemon Institute that found recurring data breaches are increasing among respondents, with 45 percent (up from 29 percent in 2010) reporting more than five incidents in the last two years.<\/p>\n

The average economic impact of a data breach has also increased by $400k to a total of $2.4 million since 2010 – in addition to federal fines, investigation, legal, business downtime and decreased credibility all contribute to the economic loss. Find out more about the total impact of a healthcare data breach in Healthcare Industry Loses $7 Billion Due to HIPAA Data Breaches<\/a><\/em>. The increase in HIPAA violation penalty fines may be the government’s response to the epidemic of repeat breaches and the rising costs to the healthcare industry.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting the changes, especially since HIPAA\u2019s standards and monetary penalties now apply to a wide range of healthcare vendors and their subcontractors. Even if you didn\u2019t know you were violating HIPAA, you can still be penalized and charged accordingly – meaning if you support the healthcare industry or deal with patient data in any way, you should be up on the requirements of HIPAA to avoid significant government fees.<\/p>\n

And if you think no one will notice if you\u2019re not in compliance – think again. As Mike Klein wrote in, The HIPAA Police Are On Their Way!<\/a><\/em>, one of the lesser known requirements of the HITECH Act mandate periodic and random audits of covered entities and business associates alike. While previously in a testing pilot phase<\/a>, the OCR (Office for Civil Rights, enforcing entity of HIPAA) audit program will be fully enforced in 2013.<\/p>\n

Luckily, while compliance may not be quicker nor less expensive to achieve, it may be somewhat clearer to understand how the requirements apply to your organization, with the new OCR HIPAA Audit Program Protocol<\/a>. If you\u2019d like to be able to confidently pass a surprise audit administered by the OCR, what better way than to follow audit guidelines released publicly by the very agency. View the HHS\u2019s Audit Protocol here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about the final HIPAA omnibus rule, we\u2019re hosting a rather timely webinar on the subject you can join for free – No More Excuses: HHS Releases Tough Final HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, next Thursday, January 31 at 2 PM ET.<\/p>\n

Featuring our guest speaker, Brian Balow of Dickinson Wright Law Firm, the discussion will cover the modifications, their impact on covered entities, business associates and subcontractors, and mechanisms for minimizing the risk of HIPAA liability. Sign up today and submit your questions in advance. Or, download our HIPAA Compliant Hosting white paper<\/a><\/strong> for a guide to the technical, physical and administrative security requirements for a compliant environment and hosting solution.<\/p>\n

Related Links:<\/p>\n

No More Excuses: HHS Releases Tough Final HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nJoin us January 31st @2PM ET for a webinar with Brian Balow of the Dickinson Wright law firm to find out how the latest HIPAA modifications affect the healthcare industry and healthcare vendors. Title: No More Excuses: HHS Releases Tough \u2026 Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

HIPAA Omnibus Rule Narrows the HIPAA Hosting Market<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nThe final HIPAA omnibus rule released late last week holds business associates (BAs) and subcontractors (the BA of a business associate) directly liable for compliance with the HIPAA rules, and sets a deadline for compliance with the new modifications. There\u2019s \u2026 Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n

How the Final Omnibus Rule Affects HIPAA Cloud Computing Providers<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
\nThe long-awaited final modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement and Breach Rules were introduced Thursday. The 563-word document outlines the changes that were initially slated for implementation last summer (remember the omnibus rule?). So how do these modifications affect \u2026 Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In addition to redefining the scope and liabilities of business associates in the healthcare industry, the final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) initially established a tiered penalty structure, it hasn\u2019t been revised until now. Section 160.404 refers to the amount of civil monetary penalty as administered under the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act. The original penalty structure used to be: VIOLATION TYPE MIN. PENALTY MAX. PENALTY Did Not Know $100\/violation; annual max of $25,000\/repeat violations $50,000\/violation; annual max of $1.5 million Reasonable Cause $100\/violation; annual max of $25,000\/repeat violations $50,000\/violation; annual max of $1.5 million Willful Neglect – Corrected $10,000\/violation; annual max of $250,000\/repeat violations $50,000\/violation; annual max of $1.5 million Willful Neglect – Not Corrected $50,000\/violation; annual max of $1.5 million $50,000\/violation; annual max of $1.5 m The new penalty structure is as follows: VIOLATION TYPE EACH VIOLATION REPEAT VIOLATIONS\/YR Did Not Know $100 – $50,000 $1,500,000 Reasonable Cause $1,000 – $50,000 $1,500,000 Willful Neglect – Corrected $10,000 – $50,000 $1,500,000 Willful Neglect – Not Corrected $50,000 $1,500,000 One-time violations stay under $50k, but repeat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[69,216,100,217,218],"other_category":[],"class_list":["post-2239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-compliance","tag-compliance","tag-compliant-hosting","tag-hipaa-compliance","tag-hipaa-omnibus-rule","tag-hipaa-violation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFinal Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties | OTAVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OTAVA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irma Brillantes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263\"},\"headline\":\"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\"},\"wordCount\":841,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"compliance\",\"compliant hosting\",\"HIPAA compliance\",\"HIPAA omnibus rule\",\"HIPAA violation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Compliance\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\",\"name\":\"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties | OTAVA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/\",\"name\":\"OTAVA\u00ae\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"OTAVA\u00ae\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/otava-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/otava-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"OTAVA\u00ae\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263\",\"name\":\"Irma Brillantes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Irma Brillantes\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/author\/ibrillantesotava-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties | OTAVA","description":"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties","og_description":"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/","og_site_name":"OTAVA","article_published_time":"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00","author":"Irma Brillantes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Irma Brillantes","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/"},"author":{"name":"Irma Brillantes","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263"},"headline":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties","datePublished":"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/"},"wordCount":841,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["compliance","compliant hosting","HIPAA compliance","HIPAA omnibus rule","HIPAA violation"],"articleSection":["Compliance"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/","url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/","name":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties | OTAVA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-01-25T00:00:00+00:00","description":"The final HIPAA omnibus rule includes revisions to the penalties applied to each HIPAA violation category.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/final-hipaa-omnibus-rule-ups-hipaa-violation-penalties\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Final Omnibus Rule Raises HIPAA Violation Penalties"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/","name":"OTAVA\u00ae","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization","name":"OTAVA\u00ae","url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/otava-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/otava-logo.svg","caption":"OTAVA\u00ae"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263","name":"Irma Brillantes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d5251bebc1699793a698d1a6158603cb3cdc50a095a12357e42d415b3e5546c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Irma Brillantes"},"url":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/author\/ibrillantesotava-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2239"},{"taxonomy":"other_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/other_category?post=2239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}