Simulation Review Paper

Healthcare technology has grown and evolved over time. With the conversion to electronic medical records and the creation of social media just to name a few, ensuring patient privacy is of the utmost importance for healthcare facilities in this day and age. In order for an organization to avoid hefty fines, it is imperative that a healthcare administrator maintains compliance with the standards and regulations associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This paper will provide a summary

Regulation placed upon the healthcare system only seek to improve safety and security of the patients we care for. The enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the enactment of Meaningful Use Act the United States government has set strict regulations on the security of health information and has allotted for stricter penalties for non-compliance. The advancement of electronic health record (EHR) systems has brought greater fluidity and compliance with healthcare but has also brought greater security risk of protected information. In order to ensure compliance with government standards organizations must adapt

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

Lately I have been hearing a lot about security of patient’s health records and how people are losing their jobs behind accessing information that they have no need to be in. It got me to wondering just how secure our personal information is from prying eyes and how who is alerted when these prying eye are in information that doesn’t concern them. So, when I ran across this article “Security Audits of Electronic Health Information” and “HIPAA Security Rule Overview” it caught my eye and curiosity on how they might work hand in hand when it comes to protecting what information is accessed by personnel. So, I choose these articles to get more information on this topic.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was intricately designed to provide not only a more efficient health care system but also as a protection for private patient information and data. With the widespread use of technology and computers in hospitals, the availability of patient information, their health portfolio, and their previous care has greatly improved the efficiency of health care. However, this also means that there is greater leeway for that information to be lost and/or shared without patients consent.

HIPAA is a public federal law gives patients a legal right to keep their health information private and secure, but it also allows healthcare providers to disclose patient information for patient care, as needed (Iron Mountain, 2015). HIPAA included provisions that required the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions, unique patient identifiers, and security (Ong, 2011). Being aware that advances in electronic technology would risk the privacy of health information, Congress also included provisions that mandated privacy protections for individually identifiable health information. HIPAA is the first government mandate that regulates how healthcare providers share

Under the HIPAA Security Rule, health care providers are required to conduct an accurate and thorough analysis of the potential risks and vulnerabilities. Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy of data in health care is very important. For a risk analysis, health care providers would prioritize risks based on the severity of the impact that it would cause their patients and practices (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). In addition, identifying the potential threats to patient privacy and security (Security Risk Analysis TipSheet, 2014). A risk analysis process would include determining the likelihood and impact of potential risk to electronic protected health information, implementing security measures to

HIPAA is best known for the Privacy Rule but also includes the Security Rule which applies to electronic health care information. “Whereas the Privacy Rule defines the circumstances in which individual health care information may be disclosed, the Security Rule defines the requirements for making such disclosures in electronic form” (Karasz, Eiden, & Bogan, 2013). All electronic forms of communication risk things such as hackers, accidently sending messages or emails to the wrong recipient, loss of data, and more.

The government has recognized the benefits and risks of the internet and technology. Consequently, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the federal government in 1996 to protect a person’s confidential health information (Guido, 2014). Moreover, this act was to regulate how individually identifiable health information is managed by users (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016).

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) has many key components in the operations of daily clinical and administrative services. In a physician's practice they must maintain physical security of all health care information. For example, patient files are no longer able to be sitting out unless they are in a closed and locked area and sign in sheets should only ask for minimal information. Accessibility to individual identifiable health information is restricted and should be used on a "need to know basis". Billing employees should not have access to the clinical notes and they do not need to know a patient's financial information. An employee may disclose only the "minimum information necessary". These regulations require

HIPAA and Information Management is a set of guidelines that have been established by the Federal government to protect the privacy and security of health information. The government passed the HIPPA legislation to accomplish the following: (a) expedite quality health care, (b) increase control over and access of medical records, and (c) decrease administrative cost of healthcare providers (Artnak, & Benson, 2005). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the federal agency that has been mandated to develop guidelines, and procedures. The government published the HIPPA privacy rules and the HIPPA security rules (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2008). HIPPA laws are designed to (a) protect the person’s medical records, (b) protect personal information, (c) provide protection to medical professionals, and (d) offer the capability to incorporate new technology to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care (HHS, n.d.a).

This paper is intended to summarize the objectives of HIPAA in safeguarding the privacy of individual’s private health information from unauthorized access in general and security requirements for HIPAA compliance in particular. The HIPAA privacy rule requires covered entities to protect patient’s health records and any other identifiable health information by using appropriate safeguard to protect privacy. The HIPAA security rule requires that covered entities implement a security technology to safeguard the integrity, confidentiality and availability of individual’s electronic private health information while exercising quality service for patients. Healthcare providers have shifted towards the use of electronic health records

HIPAA Act focuses on increased confidentiality and stronger security measures to protect health information (Hixson & Hunt-Unruh, n.d., para. 1). Any information posted to blogs, Facebook accounts, or communities online by health care organizations should be ready for the public to see. Also, there should be policies and guidelines related to online communications put in place before using these means of communication. The HIPAA Act also provides patients with increased access to their own medical records and also restricts and regulates who else can see them (Du Pré, 2005, p. 100).

Release or not to release is the question in today’s healthcare? Being a patient, and going to a doctor’s appointment has really changed versus how it was years ago. Most of us as patients know that we have a right to our own health information, but how is this beneficial to us as patients and healthcare providers? As healthcare is increasingly becoming complex what are ways to enforce these policies and rules? HIPAA rules and standards will need to be the same in each state so there is interoperability the proper way, but will we be able to really accomplish this? This paper will discuss these aspects and ways to overcome these obstacles that are occurring.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) listed two privacy provisions, which include patients having the ability to access their medical records and healthcare providers informing how their personal medical information will be conducted. First, the benefits of patients having the right to access their medical information to assure that their medical information is accurate. In addition, patients can ask their healthcare provider to take satisfactory steps to make sure that patients’ information is confidential, unless patients give the healthcare providers the right to exhibit their information in a professional manner. Second, the second privacy provision of the HIPPA allows patients the right to file a complaint against