HIPAA In Health Care

There are numerous rules and regulations that have been a huge impact to healthcare organizations. The one major rule that has affected the healthcare industry in so many ways is The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA. This report will examine how HIPAA relates to healthcare organizations by explaining how HIPAA is implemented, Identifying which agency or regulatory body is responsible for overseeing HIPAA and Explain how Healthcare Organizations or Healthcare Industries are impacted by HIPAA.

Last week it was reported that 500 patient records had been compromised. Our IT Security department has done an extensive audit and concluded that there are many issues with our security system regarding the protection of our patient’s privacy. Outlined below are some issues that were found and how they are going to be addressed going forward.

I do think that HIPAA is more compliant in regards to electronic records because from its beginning concept it was known that health data was going digital. I think because of that knowledge it has been a main focus in its development through the years. Yes, I do believe that today HIPAA does protect my personal and healthcare records more so than 5 years ago because of the January 2013 HIPAA modifications. As stated in the article, these modifications implemented changes that increased the HIPAA sanctions and enforcements to include the business associates and subcontractors of the healthcare organizations. This is important because it stated that 20% of all breaches are caused by business associates. This means that they are now held to the

According to CMS rules, Medicare beneficiaries’ paper health records cannot be destroyed. They can only be eliminated if there are certified digital copies available electronically. The imaged records of the paper form must be exactly replicated and the steps of scanning the original documents into digital format must be detail noted. The healthcare organizations and providers must keep the digital documents in readable conditions that allow easy access. Also, the digital copies must be tamper proofed from editing or manipulating. CMS requires patients’ records, which were submitting for reimbursements by providers, to be kept in their original or legally replicated forms for five years after the closure of the reimbursements. Moreover, CMS

What the HIPAA law states. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law that was enacted in 1996 establishing safeguards and rules to protect patients demographics and medical records. These rules limit the circumstances of how health records are used or obtained without the patient's authorization. HIPAA has set national standards that require these safeguards to maintain the attainability of health records and keeping them classified. This rule applies to any institutional and noninstitutional providers and only a written authorization by the patient will allow any use of their health records be disclosed.

In 1996, the HIPPA act was passed. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which was directed to improve the areas in the health field. For instance, lowering the number of errors and mistreatment, for individuals to have the access to transfer health coverage according to their present situation, and most importantly it monitors security and confidentiality information to ensure its being controlled in an accurate manner. This act gives congress ability to govern financial matter such as, federal level funding processes pertaining to different health documentation. Providing quality care while protecting patient’s information is a priority controlled under HIPAA, which accepts collaboration with all state and federal

Several years ago, a mandate was ordered requiring all healthcare facilities to progress from paper charting and record keeping to electronic health record (EHR). This transition to electronic formatting has pros and cons associated with it. I will be describing the EHR mandate, including who initiated it, when it was initiated, the goals of the EHR, and how the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration are tied into it. Then I will show evidence of research and discuss the six steps of this process as well as my facilities progress with EHR. Then I will describe meaningful use and how my facility attained it. Finally, I will define HIPAA law, the possible threats to patient confidentiality relating to EHR, and how what my facility

HIPAA, what is it? It is privacy, control, and peace of mind. You have the right for your medical information to be kept confidential. You have the right to decide whether or not family members are privy to your medical information. If you are changing jobs, why worry about health insurance coverage. Picture this. A woman called a local hospital and inquired about the condition of a patient. She was informed by the nurse that the patient was on a ventilator and could not talk. Even though interaction seems perfectly harmless, it was actually a clear violation of the privacy of the patient. A prescription for a local analgesic was presented to the pharmacist for a patient with a name similar to a patient already on file. The prescription was filled for the current patient who was actually the father, and not the patient. The pharmacist assumed that the patient was the father and shared with the patient that there was another medication that he had filled for you and asked, “Would you also like to pick up that medication also”? The father was not present and therefore could not object to the sharing of this information with the son. In the past, if you had a preexisting disease such as chronic fatigue or pregnancy, you could be denied health care coverage. Because Congress stepped in to assist and fix the healthcare system, denial of insurance because of a preexisting disease is not accepted. In view of this significant law, this paper will

Why is important for the HIPAA and the Bill of Right work in the healthcare system.

Many healthcare professionals and organizations have not been following the regulations set forth by HIPAA. Whenever violations of HIPAA’s privacy or security laws occur the organizations responsible must be held accountable resulting in a fine or penalty. Penalties provide incentive for organizations to guarantee patient privacy and security. Recently, certain people have failed to follow through with the laws and restrictions and were forced to accept the penalty. This paper will provide three real examples of such HIPAA violations as well as solutions or ways each violation could have been prevented.

Each policy that has been formulated and brought forth to legislation goes through its many challenges and analyzation before being implemented and becomes a policy and part of legislation. The statutes of HIPAA were brought forth and formulated in hopes of regulating covered entities and providing a type of universal protection of patient information and data. There is no doubt that the policy for HIPAA created skepticism about health privacy laws and the impact that it would have on the health care industry and its professionals.

One of the huge issues at the time of conception was the transition to electronic means of storage and transfer. At the time this technology was new, and not widely used as it is today. However with the implementation of HIPAA, it helped create a sense of trust and security that was not present before. By creating procedures to follow when storing and transferring information electronically, it educated many on how patient information was really being handled. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that HIPAA helped the adoption of electronic prescribing among physicians and other clinicians, overall adoption rates increasing from 5% to 18% (HIPAA: Impact). Essentially it helped usher in a new age of technology and assisted in its assimilation into the health industry, which provides far more convenience and utility than previous methods.

If any employee cannot be trusted with private information about a patient, then the employee needs to be fired. A fine should also be charged on the employee who violates this law because the hospital would suffer tremendously wit business. As for the manager, it is their responsibility to watch the other employees and to make sure they are following the rules of HIPAA. I do not believe the manager of the organization should be fired, but there should be a penalty for not completing their job appropriately. The manager should be given a deduction of pay, or even attend a management class to remind them of what their duties

We both answered question two but your policies are more in-depth than mine in terms of policy specifics. The only suggestion I would have is in relation to your access, security, and confidentiality policies for Southeast facilities. The HIPAA policies for security are highly generalized so it becomes the job of the facility to take that policy and go above standards to fit each setting. A good security measure would be staff key card entry points in secure areas of facilities. Another security measure could be individualized employee authentication on company computers.

We never stop worrying about our children’s health—be they five or fifty. However, once our children turn eighteen, we as parents no longer have the right to receive their medical information – regardless if they are covered under our health insurance and even if we happen to be footing the bill!