HHS Civil Rights Office Enters Settlement with Dental Practice Over Disclosures of Patients’ Protected Health Information

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has settled with B. Brandon Au, DDS, Inc., d/b/a New Vision Dental (New Vision Dental), in California, over the impermissible disclosure of patient protected health information (PHI) in response to online reviews, and other potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. The violation involves the provider’s inappropriate use of social media to respond to patient reviews, disclosing protected health information. This practice is illegal under HIPAA.  New Vision Dental paid $23,000 to OCR and agreed to implement a corrective action plan (CAP) to resolve this investigation:

• Read the HHS Press Release
• Read the New Vision Dental Resolution Agreement and Correction Action Plan