OCR's 50th Right Of Access Penalty

Introduction

On October 17, 2024, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a civil monetary penalty against a Maryland-based dental practice for failure to provide a patient with timely access to their medical records¹. This settlement marks the 50^th right of access case settled by the OCR, indicating that they have no intention of slowing down enforcement of a patient's right of access. This case concerns Gums Dental Care, LLC (Gums Dental), and presents several opportunities for professionals in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy and Compliance to gain valuable insights into responding not only to a patient's request for access to their medical records, but also in responding to the government when they come knocking.