Cancer Center Pays $2.3M to End HHS Health Data Breach Charges

Bankrupt health-care provider 21st Century Oncology has agreed to pay $2.3 million to end Department of Health and Human Services’ charges that its allegedly lax security led to a massive patient data breach.

The cancer treatment center didn’t admit liability under the resolution agreement with the HHS Office for Civil Rights for the 2015 data breach that compromised Social Security numbers, medical diagnoses, and health insurance information for at least 2.2 million patients. OCR concluded that 21st Century had failed to perform risk assessments or implement effective security protocols.

The settlement was made public in a Dec. 6 bankruptcy filing. ...