HIPAA (Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996), outlines rules, regulations and the rights of patients to access their healthcare information such as notifications of privacy practices, copying and viewing medical records, and amendments. This paper explains why confidentiality is important today and discusses recourses patients can use if they believe their privacy has been violated. This paper will also discuss criminal and civil penalties’ that can occur for breaking HIPAA privacy rules. Keywords: HIPAA, health information, patients’ rights Patients’ Rights under HIPAA In 2003, a federal law that provided privacy and security protection was imposed upon all healthcare organizations including hospitals, physician practices, health insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, employers, and labs, as well as other providers. With passage of this law all patients now have a right to their PHI -Protected Health Information- under HIPAA which includes the right to receive a notice of privacy practices, to copy and view information in their medical record, request amendments, receive an accounting of disclosures, request communication about medical matters, restrict the use and disclosure of their medical record, and to file a complaint about violations of privacy (Modifications to the HIPAA, 2013). What is HIPAA The Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996, known by the acronym HIPAA, is a civil rights law that was passed to give patients
US Congress created the Hipaa bill in 1996 because of public concern of how their private information was being used. It is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which Congress created to protect confidentiality, privacy and security of patient information. It was also for health care documents to be passed electronically. Hipaa is a privacy rule, which gives patients control over their health information. Patients have to give permission any healthcare provider can disclose any information placed in the individual’s medical records. It helps limit protected health information (PHI) to minimize the chance of inappropriate disclosure. It establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with and strictly investigates compliance related issues while holding violators to civil or criminal penalties if they violate the privacy of a person’s PHI. Hipaa also has boundaries for using and disclosing health records by covered entities; a healthcare provider, health plan, and healthcare clearinghouse. It also supports the cause of disclosing PHI without a person’s consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests. The portability part of Hipaa guarantees patients health insurance to employees after losing a job, making sure health insurance providers can’t discriminate against people because of health status or pre-existing condition, and keeps their files safe while being sent electronically. The Privacy
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
Data Protection Act: Patient information has to be kept private. Health care professionals and their affiltes must not allow unauthorised access to sensitive patient information. The Health information portability and accountability act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, contains a clause designed to protect patient privacy. The rules ensure that health care professionals take prudent steps to protect the confidentiality of communications with individual patients. Patients can also request that health care professionals correct may inaccurate person health information in their records.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act know as HIPAA, formally known as Kennedy-Kassebaum Bill, went into law in 1996. The purpose of HIPAA is to help people import and export their health insurance, and move their medical records from one healthcare company to another. HIPAA created a system to protect the privacy of people’s medical records. This process is time consuming but gives patients an additional level of security to their medical records.
Administrators that practice in a healthcare setting are used to the turbulence and at times rapid change in healthcare. They find themselves in the private, public, or non-profit sectors of health care, managed care arrangements, integrated service networks, or community agencies. To be an effective manager, it is important to understand the legal and ethical principles that are included in this environment and the legal relationship between consumer and the organization. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, was created to prevent the unauthorized release of patient information. The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of
HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a set of laws aimed to protect people from losing their health insurance coverage during change or loss of employment, to control health care fraud and abuse, and to maintain patient`s health information and/or status confidential. The origins of HIPAA go as far back as the 1990 when medical records were suggested to become computerized, management of health care records was questioned and portability of health insurance became an issue. HIPAA was introduced as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Bill, passed by Congress and signed by the former president Bill Clinton in August 1996. Even though the law itself was passed, the specifications were finalized subsequently; 1999 The Privacy Rule was completed, in 2000 the Transaction and Code Sets Final Rule and the Security Rule and the National Provider Identifier were finalized, and in 2006 The Enforcement Rule was concluded. These regulations are grouped into Title I - “Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability” and Title II - “Preventing Health Care Fraud and Abuse”. HIPAA not only mandates health care institutions to comply, but also to educate their employees about the law. HIPAA applies to covered entities such as health insurance plans, health care clearinghouse such as billing companies, doctor offices, pharmacies and of course us, the medical laboratories. Its regulations require entities to have policies and procedures defining privacy requirements,
How would you like to keep track of your personal health information record in your computer at home? The electronic data exchange was one of the goals of the government to improve the delivery and competence of the U.S. healthcare system. To achieve this plan, the U.S. Congress passed a regulation that will direct its implementation. The Department of Health and Human Services is the branch of the government that was assigned to oversee the HIPAA rules. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a national public law in the United States that was created to improve health insurability, prevent insurance abuse and to protect
“The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. The Rule also gives patients the rights over their health information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records, and to request corrections.”
The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton to improve the health care system. Now HIPAA is a wide known law followed by every health plan, health care providers, health care clearinghouses, and other covered entities. The HIPAA law had numerous portions and therefore, was carried out in various stages. This law provides the ability to continue health insurance for American employees when they change or lose their jobs. This law also mandated an industry-wide standard for health care information on electronic billing. Also, HIPAA has made standards for the protection and confidential handling of protected health information.
Since the adoption of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, there had been some modifications and interpretations made to its provisions to ensure that the requirements of the law are strictly adhered to. Thus, the “two sets of federal regulations were implemented… the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 157). Briefly, the Privacy Rule addresses the limited use and disclosure of patients’ health information, while the Security Rule refers to the need to safeguard “patients’ health information from improper use or disclosure” (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 157). The case scenario discussed in this paper relates to the Privacy Rule and Security Rule of HIPAA.
Ten years ago after much challenges and questionable skepticism, the HIPAA policy became effective and has been shaping healthcare one regulatory policy at a time. The evolution of the HIPAA privacy act helped establish the HIPAA Security Rule which was published in 2003 and became effective in 2005, and then eventually led to the HIPAA Enforcement Rules and the Breach Notification Rule. With it joint fortification of the 2009 HITECH Act and HIPAA’s modifications to regulations, it was released in January 2013 to the industry (American Health Information Management Association, 2013).
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) – Regulations protecting the privacy and security of certain health information
In 1996, HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted into law. The primary justification for protecting personal privacy in medical records, is to protect the interests of all patients. Throughout history there has always been a strong desire to protect all patients’ privacy. Public opinions on Privacy of Care in the medical field varies widely across the board. Some feel that their privacy is safe within the medical facility in which they choose. Most believe that the medical facility is held to higher principles in securing and making sure their privacy is well protected. Protecting the security of data in the medical field is important because medical records consists of the
“A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high-quality health care and to protect the public's health and well-being” (OCR, 2014). To protect the nation as a whole when it comes to healthcare, it is important that there is a set standard that customers can look to ensure satisfaction with their service. The technical definition of the HIPPA privacy law is: “The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information—called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called “covered entities,” as well as standards for individuals' privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.”(OCR, 2014) If Medica customers do not understand what these laws mean, it will be hard for them to feel as though their health information is protected. In conclusion, it is paramount to summarize what the main goals of patient privacy laws
Protecting the privacy of patient’s health information is a main concern among health care providers today. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 known as HIPAA was approved by law to safeguard not only patients but also health care workers. However, sometimes people tend to violate these laws unintentionally or sometimes intentionally. According to an article from the Department of Health and Human Service website (2011), HHS imposes a $4.3 million civil money penalty for violating HIPAA privacy rules on Cignet Health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). This paper will elaborate on the violation issue of Cignet Health and the population it affects most, the ethical and