A Humana subsidiary, Concentra, has shelled out $1.7 million to resolve potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security rules.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the enforcement action taken against Texas-based Concentra, which operates over 245 worksite medical facilities in the country. The settlement stems from a 2011 breach where an unencrypted laptop was stolen from a Concentra facility, the Springfield Missouri Physical Therapy Center.
In addition to paying the settlement, Concentra agreed to adopt a corrective action plan to remediate its security shortcomings, the HHS release said.
HHS also revealed that QCA Health Plan, an Arkansas-based health management firm, agreed to pay a $250,000 settlement for a similar laptop breach hitting the company. QCA notified HHS's Office for Civil Rights of the breach in February 2012.
