Smith Memorial Healthcare (SMH) is a hospital network headquartered in New York and operating in 7 other states. SMH uses an electronic medical record to enter and track information about its patients. Recently, SMH suffered a data breach where a third-party hacker was able to gain access to the SMH internal network.
Because it is a HIPPA-covered entity, SMH made a notification to the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about the breach.
Which statement accurately describes SMH’s notification responsibilities?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:
Larry has become increasingly dissatisfied with his telemarketing position at SunriseLynx, and particularly with his supervisor, Evan. Just last week, he overheard Evan mocking the state’s Do Not Call list, as well as the people on it. “If they were really serious about not being bothered,” Evan said, “They’d be on the national DNC list. That’s the only one we’re required to follow. At SunriseLynx, we call until they ask us not to.”
Bizarrely, Evan requires telemarketers to keep records of recipients who ask them to call “another time.” This, to Larry, is a clear indication that they don’t want to be called at all. Evan doesn’t see it that way.
Larry believes that Evan’s arrogance also affects the way he treats employees. The U.S. Constitution protects American workers, and Larry believes that the rights of those at SunriseLynx are violated regularly. At first Evan seemed friendly, even connecting with employees on social media. However, following Evan’s political posts, it became clear to Larry that employees with similar affiliations were the only ones offered promotions.
Further, Larry occasionally has packages containing personal-use items mailed to work. Several times, these have come to him already opened, even though this name was clearly marked. Larry thinks the opening of personal mail is common at SunriseLynx, and that Fourth Amendment rights are being trampled under Evan’s leadership.
Larry has also been dismayed to overhear discussions about his coworker, Sadie. Telemarketing calls are regularly recorded for quality assurance, and although Sadie is always professional during business, her personal conversations sometimes contain sexual comments. This too is something Larry has heard Evan laughing about. When he mentionedthis to a coworker, his concern was met with a shrug. It was the coworker’s belief that employees agreed to be monitored when they signed on. Although personal devices are left alone, phone calls, emails and browsing histories are all subject to surveillance. In fact, Larry knows of one case in which an employee was fired after an undercover investigation by an outside firm turned up evidence of misconduct. Although the employee may have stolen from the company, Evan could have simply contacted the authorities when he first suspected something amiss.
Larry wants to take action, but is uncertain how to proceed.
In what area does Larry have a misconception about private-sector employee rights?
Which of the following became the first state to pass a law specifically regulating the collection of biometric data?
Global Manufacturing Co’s Human Resources department recently purchased a new software tool. This tool helps evaluate future candidates for executive roles by scanning emails to see what those candidates say and what is said about them. This provides the HR department with an automated “360 review” that lets them know how the candidate thinks and operates, what their peers and direct reports say about them, and how well they interact with each other.
What is the most important step for the Human Resources Department to take when implementing this new software?
If an organization certified under Privacy Shield wants to transfer personal data to a third party acting as an agent, the organization must ensure the third party does all of the following EXCEPT?
Which of the following is NOT a principle found in the APEC Privacy Framework?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:
Declan has just started a job as a nursing assistant in a radiology department at Woodland Hospital. He has also started a program to become a registered nurse.
Before taking this career path, Declan was vaguely familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). He now knows that he must help ensure the security of his patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI). Therefore, he is thinking carefully about privacy issues.
On the morning of his first day, Declan noticed that the newly hired receptionist handed each patient a HIPAA privacy notice. He wondered if it was necessary to give these privacy notices to returning patients, and if the radiology department could reduce paper waste through a system of one-time distribution.
He was also curious about the hospital’s use of a billing company. He questioned whether the hospital was doing all it could to protect the privacy of its patients if the billing company had details about patients’ care.
On his first day Declan became familiar with all areas of the hospital’s large radiology department. As he was organizing equipment left in the halfway, he overheard a conversation between two hospital administrators. He was surprised to hear that a portable hard drive containing non-encrypted patient information was missing. The administrators expressed relief that the hospital would be able to avoid liability. Declan was surprised, and wondered whether the hospital had plans to properly report what had happened.
Despite Declan’s concern about this issue, he was amazed by the hospital’s effort to integrate Electronic Health Records (EHRs) into the everyday care of patients. He thought about the potential for streamlining care even more if they were accessible to all medical facilities nationwide.
Declan had many positive interactions with patients. At the end of his first day, he spoke to one patient, John, whose father had just been diagnosed with a degenerative muscular disease. John was about to get blood work done, and he feared that the blood work could reveal a genetic predisposition to the disease that could affect his ability to obtain insurance coverage. Declan told John that he did not think that was possible, but the patient was wheeled away before he could explain why. John plans to ask a colleague about this.
In one month, Declan has a paper due for one his classes on a health topic of his choice. By then, he will have had many interactions with patients he can use as examples. He will be pleased to give credit to John by name for inspiring him to think more carefully about genetic testing.
Although Declan’s day ended with many Questions, he was pleased about his new position.
What is the most likely way that Declan might directly violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)?
SCENARIO
Please use the following to answer the next QUESTION:
Matt went into his son’s bedroom one evening and found him stretched out on his bed typing on his laptop. “Doing your network?” Matt asked hopefully.
“No,” the boy said. “I’m filling out a survey.”
Matt looked over his son’s shoulder at his computer screen. “What kind of survey?” “It’s asking Questions about my opinions.”
“Let me see,” Matt said, and began reading the list of Questions that his son had already answered. “It’s asking your opinions about the government and citizenship. That’s a little odd. You’re only ten.”
Matt wondered how the web link to the survey had ended up in his son’s email inbox. Thinking the message might have been sent to his son by mistake he opened it and read it. It had come from an entity called the Leadership Project, and the content and the graphics indicated that it was intended for children. As Matt read further he learned that kids who took the survey were automatically registered in a contest to win the first book in a series about famous leaders.
To Matt, this clearly seemed like a marketing ploy to solicit goods and services to children. He asked his son if he had been prompted to give information about himself in order to take the survey. His son told him he had been asked to give his name, address, telephone number, and date of birth, and to answer Questions about his favorite games and toys.
Matt was concerned. He doubted if it was legal for the marketer to collect information from his son in the way that it was. Then he noticed several other commercial emails from marketers advertising products for children in his son’s inbox, and he decided it was time to report the incident to the proper authorities.
How does Matt come to the decision to report the marketer’s activities?
What is a key way that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) prevents unauthorized access into a person’s back account?
What do the Civil Rights Act, Pregnancy Discrimination Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Age Discrimination Act, and Equal Pay Act all have in common?
TESTED 04 Jun 2025
