The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996

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.

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

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a brilliant set of laws put into place to protect patients’ privacy rights. These laws are extremely tedious, covering every single aspect of privacy rights, what is considered a breach of privacy, and what happens to the individual who commits this breach. When looking at the legal consequences given to those who break HIPAA laws, they are no slap on the wrists. HIPAA violations can lead to fines in the millions and even jail time for so much as a peak at a patient’s private documents. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA was first signed into law on the federal level in 1996. Since it was signed into law it has had a huge effect on patient’s privacy, healthcare workers and even insurance company’s. “HIPAA is intended to improve efficiency throughout health care and requires that health care providers adhere to standardized national privacy and confidentiality protections.” (OMA p .236). It’s an invaluable tool that has created a standard of compliance across the healthcare field.

Even though hipaa violations are an important standard in preventing many individuals from causing several breaches of information from getting out, it is important to work on a strategies within several health care organizations that will work with the privacy rules regarding violation laws. “Jill Granger & Laura Cataldo (2013) reports When working in the healthcare setting, it is important to consult with the guidelines established by one's institution and to participate in any training programs to insure that the appropriate steps are being taken to maintain privacy. There are also a variety of additional resources available from the federal government and professional organizations to assist in the training process that may be especially

Before we go any further, let us take a few moment to examine what HIPAA is, what purpose it serves, and most importantly how the breach of HIPAA could severely impact our organization financially and hinder us from competing in the health care market. So what is HIPAA? HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal privacy law enacted by the congress in 1996 to protect the individual personal information held by health care organizations and its business associates. The primary purpose of this law is to safeguard the confidentiality and the security of patient personal record whether be it in forms of electronics or non-electronics. Most importantly, HIPAA is created to deter health care entities from illegally disclosing patient information to third party for financial gain other than for the purpose of necessary diagnosis and treatments.

Most people have a basic understanding about HIPAA and what it entails, but for future healthcare leaders, it is a critical issue. The goals behind the HIPAA privacy rules are very beneficial for keeping individual’s health information private, but it does place a heavy burden on organizations to ensure the information remains protected. Healthcare leaders have always had to adapt to change, but it is becoming increasingly necessary to have leaders that can adapt quicker than ever. Not only do they need to keep up with the technological advances in healthcare, but they also need to become compliant with the new and ever-changing healthcare laws. Numerous modifications have been implemented under HIPAA in the

HIPAA, (Health Insurance and Portability Act of 1996) outlines rules and 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.

Every day in the healthcare industry professional are reminded of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and the important role it plays in daily task. Every patient is protected under HIPAA there really is never an time that HIPAA does not apply to health information. The expectation to protecting private health information under HIPAA is within the school districts in the communities. The school districts records that contain students private health information does not fall under HIPAA regulations. That information actually is covered under the FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act). This is a cause of a privacy concern for students K-12 private health information contained in the students record.

Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the protection of patient’s private health information. It’s very pertinent to the patients that their personal information is being kept privately away from unauthorized viewers. Patients are allowed to have access to their own health records if they request them. Workers that has access to protected health information are required by law to secure all information in a file and not share with anyone any information that is not relevant to them. You should always know whom to disclosed the proper protected health information to when necessary. There are safeguards that can help with ensuring the security and protection of the protected health information, while the information is being transmitted or stored in its proper place.

Attempts to stop fraud were enhanced under Public Law 104-191, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The purpose was to improve the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. This public law encouraged the development of a health information system through standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of certain health information (aspe.hhs.go). The Act established a program to take action against fraud committed against public and private health plans. The legislation required the establishment of a national Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC), under the joint direction of the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) acting through the Department 's Inspector General (HHS.gov). The HCFAC program is designed to coordinate Federal, State and local law enforcement activities with respect to health care fraud and abuse. The Act requires HHS and Department of Justice (DOJ) detail in an Annual Report the amounts deposited and appropriated to the Medicare Trust Fund, and the source of such deposits. (HHS.gov) I will summarize the impact of these laws as it pertains to how they are impacting the healthcare delivery system. (HHS.gov)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a US law aimed to advance the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage in both the group and individual markets, and to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and health care delivery as well as other purposes26. The Act defines security standards for healthcare information, and it takes into account a number of factors including the technical capabilities of record systems used to maintain health information, the cost of security measures, the need for training personnel, the value of audit trails in computerized record systems, and the needs and capabilities of small healthcare providers. A person who maintains or transmits health information

It has always been the job of health care providers to maintain doctor-patient confidentiality. Not only is it a legal obligation it is also an ethical obligation to many doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants and many other medical staff. Until recently medical records were primarily recorded on paper and stored in cabinets and locked in what was believed as a secure room. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA, was passed on August 21, 1996. Although the law was passed in 1996 it did not become effective until April 14, 2003. This was due to the fact that “Given that Congress did not act to produce these within the timeframe specified by the law the secretary at the Department of Health and Human

Any company that’s looking to comply with the current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards can benefit from the training courses and management tools available through the Accountable platform. Everything that Accountable does is geared towards making HIPAA compliance an easier and more attainable goal. With the intuitive interface you’ll be able to move step by step through everything that needs to be accomplished in order to achieve complete HIPAA compliance, which saves time and effort.

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.