Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Do you have leased copiers or fax machines? Have you ever considered the risk this equipment might pose to sensitive employee information?
WellPoint Inc., an insurance carrier, was recently fined over 1.2 million dollars for HIPPA violations when it returned leased copiers to the leasing company. The leased equipment had HIPPA protected health information stored on the hard drives. During the period WellPoint used the equipment, each time they made a copy or faxed a document containing protected information, the device kept a duplicate on the machines? hard drive. When the equipment was leased to a new customer the new customer discovered the documents and notified WellPoint. WellPoint self-reported the violation and will pay the 1.2 million dollar fine.
While businesses are not held to the same standards that health insurance and medical providers are regarding HIPPA, it is critical that employers protect employee information. Documents such as W-4?s or I-9?s that are scanned or copied may be stored on the hard drive of the device. This information could be used in an inappropriate manner should it be discovered by someone both inside and/or outside the organization. A business could be subject to civil procedures from an employee if unauthorized or inappropriate disclosures could be traced back to this type of equipment.
In addition to employee information, confidential company information could be at risk. In the highly competitive world we live in, breach of confidential company information could have disastrous results.
When leasing equipment it is the company?s responsibility to verify that all information has been removed prior to returning the equipment. Consulting with the leasing agency or the manufactures technical support may provide some basic security steps that can ensure that employee information is kept confidential.
If you have questions regarding securing employee information or payroll compliance matters contact Gary at 615-542-1919 or
gary@IlluminareGroupInc.com.
Gary Garner, EA