Health Care Services : An Invisible Factor For Patients

Patients are also entitled to receive notice on how their health information is shared by health care covered entities, and are entitled to request a report once a year, free of charge, detailing who has received copies of their health information. Another aspect of the privacy rules provides patients with the right to choose who may receive health care information. Patients should be aware, however, that the provider does not have to agree to abide by their requests. Patients may determine whether or not their private health information may be shared with family members or others. Patients may also choose where they receive their health information. They could choose to receive their information via telephone, cell phone, e-mail, or any other reasonable means of contact. HIPAA also requires that covered entities provide their policies to patients that include information on how a patient might be able to file a complaint with either the covered entity or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).

All healthcare providers, health organizations, and government health plans that use, store, maintain, or transmit patient health care information are required to comply with the privacy regulations of the HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by congress in 1996, and helps to ensure the privacy and security of Electronic Health Records (EHR's). By following the rules and regulations set forth under HIPAA, we can ensure the safety of patients' EHR's. We are responsible for protecting patients' records, and there are many measures we can take in order do this. Firstly, we must always keep patients' health information private. This means no discussing the records with people that are not authorized to know, and even then, we should only disclose the minimum necessary amount of information possible. For covered entities, we must designate a privacy and security officer to ensure the privacy

Under HIPPA you are not legally able to view a patient’s medical information unless you are their doctor. It would be a violation of the patients’ personal information, which is against the law, because you were not given permission by the doctor or patient.

The forms restrict access to patient’s information by seeking the patient’s permission to disclose such information in certain circumstances only. The forms thus must be available in the HIPAA compliance manual. The HIPAA forms are crucial in implementing access controls to keep track of the persons who access the patient’s information. The new patient forms include patient history forms, patient registration form, advanced directive to physician forms, authorization for use and disclosure of protected health information, HIPAA Contact Disclosure, HIPAA notice of privacy practices (Acknowledgement), and well-being assessment form.

Personal health information includes a patient’s name, address, birthdate and social security number. It also includes a person’s health or mental status whether it is in the past, present or future. HIPAA gives people the right to have access to their medical records. It also states that people have the right to either give consent or deny consent of their information being shared or released. All health care facilities, insurance companies, pharmacies, vision, and dental offices must adhere to the HIPAA guidelines. Though patients have a right to their information being kept confidential, their information may be shared for necessity in regards to treatment, billing, to protect the public health, and if the law requires disclosure. Penalties are set in place for violations of the HIPAA laws ("HIPAA summary,"

It is important for all health care recipients and health care providers to read information regarding HIPAA that way everyone will be informed of what rights are privacy they are entitled to and the workers are aware of what information needs to remain confidential. People can receive handouts regarding information about HIPAA, as well as the Internet. There are hundreds of online websites that people can go to in order to receive more information on how HIPAA works and what is required to ensure everyone follows the laws that go along with HIPAA. Breaking the law can have some major consequences so it is important to understand HIPAA and what privacy laws are enforced to protect a patient’s information. The information that is

Under HIPAA, the definition of a covered entity is a health plan (insurance companies, HMOs, company health plans, government health plans), healthcare provider (doctors, dentists, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, etc.), or healthcare clearinghouse (billing service, repricing company, health information systems, etc.) ("Covered Entity," n.d.). A business associate is, “a person or entity that performs

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, which regulates the use and disclosure of certain information held by a covered entity, took effect on April 14, 2003. The Privacy Rule regulates the use and disclosure of PHI. A medical office specialist must know and understand the guidelines included under the Privacy Rule, such as the guidelines for release of a patient’s health information to their family, friends, or other persons identified by the patient which are outlined under the Health INsurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. As a medical office specialist you need to know the safeguards for reducing the risks to PHI.

1. Under HIPAA, are you legally allowed to view this patient’s medical information? Why or why not?

Currently there are three categories of covered entities which are required to comply with HIPAA, health plans, most health care providers, and health care clearinghouses. With that being said, many organizations that have personal health information are considered non-covered entities and therefore, are not required to comply with HIPAA. Some examples or non-covered entities are, life insurers, employers, worker’s compensation carriers, most schools and school districts, law enforcement agencies, and many state agencies like child protective service agencies. In addition, most medical research companies are not required to comply with HIPAA, yet have access to personal health information.

In chapter 8 I learned that HIPAA is rules for collection, use and disclosure and personal health information. It Applies to all health information custodians (HICs) in Ontario and to those who receive PHI from HICs. However, it further excludes organizations that are not HICs. For example, employers and insurance companies that receive data from individuals. In all but few cases, HICs have to obtain consent to collect, use and/ or disclosure PHI. It further allows for people to access and request the correction of their PHI. Consumers are allowed permissions on whether health information can be used or shared for certain purposes, such as for marketing. They are allowed to get reports on when and why health information was shared for certain

Any patient that is seen by a physician within the United States is to be protected by the “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” or HIPAA, which was passed into law in 1996 (Jani, 2009). All health care facilities dealing with any protected health information (PHI) are to ensure that all physical/electronic processes are safeguarded from any third party entity or unauthorized personnel according to HIPAA. All health care data to include any medical insurance

Many of the forms that we require our patients or their legal guardians to fill out are required un-der the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. HIPAA was enacted in Congress in 1996 and implemented, along with privacy rules by the US Department of Health and Human Services. These rules govern the way that medical providers, including our Plano pe-diatricians, handle confidential medical information. The types of medical information that are protected are:

The Privacy Rule enacted by the Department of Health and Human Services apply to all HIPAA covered entities such as health plans, health clearinghouses, insurance companies, business associates, and to any healthcare provider who transmits health information in electronic form. (Summary of the HIPPA Security Rule, 2015) Health Plans which are typically group plans that provide and/or pay for the cost of medical services are covered entities that must comply with privacy regulations. Exceptions for Health Plans may include group health plans that contain less than 50 participants and certain types of government funded programs. (Summary of the HIPPA Security Rule, 2015)