Penalty Amount
$300,000
Consumers Affected
54,000
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital used third-party tracking tools on its website that collected and shared patients' health information with tech companies without adequate safeguards, violating HIPAA. The hospital agreed to pay $300,000 and implement enhanced privacy policies, data deletion, and regular audits.
NYP must pay $300,000, adopt policies to prevent disclosure of protected health information through tracking tools, conduct regular audits of third-party tools, review contracts and privacy policies, and instruct third parties to delete any protected health information received.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor and customer agreements where the entity's website or digital platforms are involved, particularly those with third-party technology, marketing, or analytics providers. Specific clauses to scrutinize include data sharing provisions, consent and authorization mechanisms (especially for PHI), breach notification requirements, data retention and deletion obligations, audit rights, and representations regarding HIPAA compliance. Changes may be needed to mandate Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for all vendors handling PHI, implement stricter pre-deployment vetting and approval processes for tracking/analytics tools, require explicit and granular user consent for data collection, and incorporate robust data deletion and security safeguards aligned with HIPAA's minimum necessary standard.
Entity
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Also known as: NewYork-Presbyterian
Industry
Healthcare"The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital"
"$300,000"
"Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)"
"for disclosing the health information of individuals who visited their website"
"affected over 54,000 people"
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