The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act

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

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

When confidential patient information is disclosed without consent it is a violation of the HIPAA Title II Security Rule. This rule was enacted in response to private information being leaked to the news and emails containing privileged information were read by unauthorized people. Identity theft is a real concern so patient privacy should be taken seriously. This is a rule can easily be broken without the

The primary goal of the Privacy Rule is to protect the individual’s health information from improper use and at the same time allowing the transfer of health information that will deliver and stimulate high quality health care. The Privacy Rule, affect health plans, health care clearinghouses, as well as health care provider who provide health information in electronic method in association with transactions for which the Secretary of HHS has adopted standards under HIPAA (HHS.gov, 2008).

Information received from someone else I.E. the patient should not be passed on to third parties without the consent of the person that the information was initially received from, as per the data protection act 1998 states this also includes, electronic, verbal, documents, and includes every form of storage of information received or passed on.

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

HIPPA is the law to protect health information communicated in any manner. It states the privacy and security regulations on the rights and standards of the patient. It also defined the penalties for those who fail to protect the individual’s identifiable health information. The information on patient’s name, diagnosis, important activities for the shift and room number are all included in the HIPPA privacy rule. HIPPA privacy rule part § 162.1002 Medical data code sets. (i) Prevention. (ii) Diagnosis. (iii) Treatment. (iv)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was created to protect the personal and medical information of a patient obtaining medical treatment. HIPAA came into effect in 1996 and it was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, after approval by congress. The HIPAA covers personal information such as name, date of birth, address, etc. Results of tests, diagnosis and treatments for ailments are also covered under HIPAA. A persons protected health information can be divulged if express permission is given by the person that the protected information pertains to. There are exceptions for permission to divulge information which can include an investigation of a crime, suspected cases of child abuse or other law enforcement purposes as required by law. Protected health information (PHI) can be disclosed in aiding treatment or payment for a service. Title II of the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPAA) establishes the rules of compliance for electronic processing of transmissions, disclosure of PHI ( Protected Health Information), or the

The problem with this is that if an individual or organization would remove a name and address from a patients record it will still not make it confidential or anonymous. Other factors can still point to a certain individual. An example: It would be hard to identify an individual from a diagnosis of asthma because this is a very common thing among people but if the diagnosis were refined and combines with other factors like the age, gender, and ethnicity a person can provide a profile of the individual who can then be identified. Medical records have made information more organized but it is also easier for anyone in the organization to see an individual’s personal information. Whoever can get into the medical records with a password can see this information and this is usually many individuals within the organization. A way that this can be prevented is if there is a certain password for each individuals file or a certain password that only the physicians have. There are issues with this as well because there are other physicians that do not need to see another physician’s patient information. When it concerns this issue, it will be hard to have a solution because of all the different people who will need to access patients medical records.

The HIPPA privacy rule act protects individual’s medical records, and other personal health information. A patient’s privacy records can pertain to; identity, health care, medical records, and demographic profile. HIPPA rules requires, safeguarding a patients privacy of personal health information, it also sets limits on what can be used or disclosed with others without a patients authorization.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was implemented in 1996 and it required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promote regulations that maintains and follow procedures that ensure the privacy and security of health information and protects patients' personal or protected health information (PHI). The HIPAA Privacy Rule regulations require health care providers and organizations, and their business associates to protect all individually identifiable health information when it is handled, transmitted, received, or shared. This information applies to all forms of protected health information (PHI), including digital, paper or oral. In addition, the information

A patient’s right to privacy is one of the most important and protected elements of healthcare today. Patient health information is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and even more so by the HIPAA Privacy Rule. “The HIPAA Privacy Rule is a key federal law governing the privacy and confidentiality of patient information.” (Brodnik, Rinehart-Thompson, Reynolds. 2012 pg. 215.) The law governing patient privacy has two goals, “to provide an individual with greater rights with

Everyone is entitled to confidentiality unless they give permission for someone else to see their information or they can no longer make decisions on their own (for example, if they are confused or comatose). A federal law, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act applies to most health care physicians and its guideline, known as the Privacy Rule. The Privacy Rule sets specific rules regarding privacy, access, and disclosure of information. For example, HIPAA specifies the following:

3.) Under HIPAA, covered entities (healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouse) must comply with the privacy rules. A covered entity may develop its own privacy rules that would accommodate its own needs of protected health information (PHI) management but it most comply with the HIPAA guidelines. It is the responsibility of the entity to put in place a privacy official to oversee the policies, procedures and be on hand and available to be contacted in reference to the privacy rule. A patient should be given a privacy notice act at his/her health facility stating how their (PHI) is being used and to whom it will be shared. The covered entity should include in the notice their duty to assure the patients privacy as well as how and whom to contact if there is a complaint or they feel that their rights have been violated. As of 2009 the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) handles complaints that are made on privacy policies, procedure and practices of HIPAA covered entities.

In this paper, I will discuss the principles that permit disclosure of protected health information with or without the patient’s consent for each of the four categories, government agencies, legal agencies or representatives and research groups. I will also state whether I feel privacy safeguards are adequate to support those principles.