Feinstein Institute for Medical Reserch

Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (Feinstein) has agreed to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Feinstein will pay $3.9 million and will adopt a robust corrective action plan to correct deficiencies in its HIPAA compliance program; an effort it has already begun. Research institutions subject to HIPAA must be held to the same compliance standards as all other HIPAA-covered entities,” said OCR Director Jocelyn Samuels. “For individuals to trust in the research process and for patients to trust in those institutions, they must have some assurance that their information is kept private and secure.” Feinstein is a biomedical research institute that is organized as a New York not-for-profit corporation and is sponsored by Northwell Health, Inc., formerly known as North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, a large health system headquartered in Manhasset, New York that is comprised of twenty one hospitals and over 450 patient facilities and physician practices. After receiving a breach notification fr