HIPAA Glossary · Breach & enforcement
Willful neglect
Conscious, intentional failure or reckless indifference to HIPAA obligations.
Context
The culpability standard that separates the top two penalty tiers (willful neglect, corrected within 30 days; willful neglect, not corrected) from the bottom two (did-not-know; reasonable cause). Documentation is the artefact that argues culpability down tiers — an identified gap with an owner and a dated remediation plan is reasonable cause; the same gap undocumented reads as willful neglect.
Related terms
- Civil money penalty — The formal penalty OCR imposes when a case does not settle, calculated under the four culpability tiers.
- Enforcement Rule — The HIPAA regulation setting out investigation procedures and the civil money penalty structure, including culpability tiers.
Where this fits
This is one of 50+ terms in the HIPAA Glossary. For how HIPAA is structured end-to-end, see the Security Rule guide and the Privacy Rule guide.