...HIPAA Privacy – Safe Guarding and Securing Patient Data HIPAA Privacy – Safe Guarding and Securing Patient Data Robert N. Reges DeVry University/ HSM 410 Professor Anthony LaBonte 12 December 2010 Abstract According to section 1.07 of the APA Publication Manual [ (Ame01) ], “An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly, and like a title, it enables abstracting and information services to index and retrieve articles” (p. 12). . HIPAA Privacy – Safe Guarding and Securing Patient Data It has been said time and time again that life was much less complicated at the turn of the 20th Century and this saying could not be truer when it comes to medicine. At the turn of the 1900’s there was a personal bond between the provider and the patient, between the provider and the community, and between citizens in the community. In small towns across the nation there was less of a sense of privacy & individualism and more emphasis on helping your neighbor; because of this medical privacy was not a concern. You cannot help your neighbor if you are not aware of their issues. If we fast forward to the year 2010 times have changed significantly; with the advent of technology the American culture has changed. Personal information is no longer just stored on paper in the doctor’s office, patient information is stored in vast computer banks and sold like stocks and bonds on...
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...Medical Profession Responsibilities Medical Profession Responsibilities This paper will discuss the federal law that governs Protected Health Information (PHI) and the elements of compliance that must be met. This paper will also describe two examples of improper privacy disclosure and some challenges a medical office might have maintaining strict confidentiality. The federal law that governs Protected Health Information (PHI) is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 ("Summary of the,"). HIPAA’s goal is to simplify the administrative processes of the healthcare system and to protect patients’ privacy ("HIPAA compliance,"). The Privacy Rule of HIPAA plays an important role being that it was designed to protect personal information as it travels through the healthcare system. The organizations that must comply with this rule are providers, payers, and healthcare organizations. HIPAA has standards that every organization must comply with including administrative procedures, technical security mechanisms and services and physical safeguards ("HIPAA compliance,"). For example to comply with administrative procedures healthcare organizations must implement policies and procedures in their workforce to ensure security of electronic protected health information to only those who are authorized and prevent those who are not along with performing periodic evaluation of the entity’s security policies and procedures. An example of compliance in the...
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...HIPAA Summary Leticia DelRosario Ware HCS/320 May 11, 2016 Sherry Williams HIPAA Summary When you think about all the patients’ hospitals and clinics see on a daily basis, you think about all the information that’s stored in their computers systems. You think about who all can view your information, which person can pass your information to the next provider and so on. In this brief summary you will read an overview about the meaning of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and some basic rules. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) cover a wide spread of healthcare issues. According to University Of Phoenix The Privacy Rule and Health Care Practice (n.d.), HIPAA laws are designed to protect and secure patients health care information, and simplify administrative aspects of the health care systems. The Privacy Rules protect all of its patient’s health information, it doesn’t matter if it’s spoken, giving electronically, or written. Being accountable for doing your job is very important because you have access to over millions of records and you don’t want to be in breach of violating any of HIPAA’s rules. If you find yourself in violation you will face criminal charges. If you’re working in healthcare you must comply with all rules and regulations that are asked by HIPAA laws. Moving forward once you have been properly trained you must always demonstrate trustworthiness with your fellow colleagues, so they know you...
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...HIPAA Tutorial Summary Health Care Communication Strategies HCS/320 January 02, 2015 Carol Coakley HIPAA Tutorial Summary In order to for individuals to gain reasonable health insurance receive confidentiality and security of his or her healthcare information, and have the administrative costs controlled and simplified, the HIPAA law was passed as a law in 1996(University of Phoenix, 2015). The HIPAA Law gives protection to individual’s healthcare information by his or her providers and business associates. The law also gives each individual right’s in regard to their information. In this paper, the writer will summarize what was learned from the HIPAA tutorial, Why the Information is important, and how the information may be used in the future. Learned Information Information that was acquired from the tutorial was defined entities in reference to HIPAA such as health plans, healthcare clearing houses, and providers. HIPAA protects spoken, written, and electronic use of healthcare information. The entities must provide notice of privacy to each patient, obtain consent, respect the patient’s rights, and properly disclose of patient information. Written notice must be given by each healthcare provider and keep on file for at least six years (University of Phoenix, 2015). Importance of HIPAA The Importance of HIPPA is to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility. It guarantees patients access to their healthcare information...
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...has been limited regulations on privacy of health information. The how, why, and to who information was shared was less scrutinized, which allowed people to inadvertently gain access to information that was not necessary. There are very specific rules for who and when it can be used, discussed, shared or disclosed. These rules are outlined in various Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Codington-Lacerte, 2014). HIPAA is a set of standards that are used across the nation in an attempt to protect personal health information (Summary, n.d.). HIPAA uses the term covered entities to include entities that would not need a release signed such as health care providers, health plans, and healthcare clearninghouses (Summary, n.d.). The basic assumptions with HIPAA is that all personal health information (PHI) is kept to only those who need to know and is not disclosed to anyone. The values and beliefs associated with this concept is simple in that the primary goal is to limit how and when PHI is released. To do this HIPAA policies include information regarding the minimum necessary requirement. The minimum necessary requirement is defined as steps taken to limit the PHI to the minimum necessary for the intended purpose (Minimum, n.d.). Opportunities and obstacles associated with a HIPAA policy include understanding what is covered under HIPAA and setting up safeguards to ensure the requirements are followed. HIPAA has great opportunities to help increase...
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...Introduction: No matter what industry the organization fits in, IT Compliance plays an essential role of operations. It will cover both internal policies, federal regulations ,ethical practices, standards. Privacy is Fundamental to good health care. The HIPAA privacy rule is essential to patient care and public health and safety. Its very important to protect against disclosure of sensitive health information. Its critical to recognize that the lack of health privacy can lead to Individual health care and endanger public health and safety. Additional mesasures could enhance the effectivenss of the HIPAA privacy rule. Before the privacy rule with effect in April 2003, the inadequate health professional and patient outreach , awareness have...
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...rapid transmission of medical information electronically. However, along with this ease of sharing come new concerns regarding the confidentiality and protection of patient information. Body 1. Discuss the impacts of a breach to healthcare information systems, especially the financial and privacy impacts. The global economic crisis of today has put a lot of risk in the healthcare industry at an accelerated pace. The most important financial and privacy risks in the healthcare industry include compliance with government mandates such as Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the federal False Claims Act and Medicare/Medicaid regulation – along with data privacy and employee misconduct or fraud. Each of these factors has grown in significance and will become more severe in the coming years. On average, companies lost seven percent of revenue to fraud in 2008, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) 2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse. In healthcare, the median fraud loss was among the highest of any industry at $150,000 per incident – and most experts expect the risk of fraud to rise in 2009 due to the pressures of a down economy. (Whitepaper, 2007).. The healthcare community is well aware of these risks, and numerous others not mentioned. Every organization has some set of policies and processes to address them. Another major challenge for...
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... HSM Law Profile Paper HIPAA LEGAL SUMMARY The use of Information technology now allows human service organizations to more efficiently keep track of high priority information on clients, costs, and regulations. Years ago this information was kept by hand in ledgers. Nowadays client numbers, costs, and regulations have increased astronomically. As such information technology is the only way to keep track. There are a plethora of IT solutions for human service organizations. Out of the box solutions typically contain applications that record physician orders and keep track of claims and medical record information. Modern day regulation sets are complex and the need to keep track of these is extremely important. A good example of a large and complex regulation set is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act (HIPAA) which was put into law in 1996 by president, Bill Clinton. HIPAA has multiple facets. However the most important is that it sets rules on how to properly communicate medical data. Individuals, groups, or organizations that need to transfer medical data must do so according to HIPAA rules. As such administrators of health service organizations as well as IT professionals must understand the rules (Information Technology Association of America, 2004). The two most important components of HIPAA are simplification and privacy. Simplification means that the underlying HIPAA system must be based on one computer language...
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...Diane Hotaling HT1000 Week 3 assignment 3/18/2014 The 5W’s behind recent healthcare reform initiatives and how they have, are or can impact the delivery of healthcare and HIM professionals. There have been many controversies over healthcare reform ideas and all the issues that may or may not arise affecting everything from the delivery and costs to the patients, HIM and surrounding professionals roles, and the politicians and the different ideas they stand behind. Examples of some of the most influential and recent initiatives are HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)enforced in 1996 and ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and its revision HITECH(Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Act) of 2009 Each of these reforms have impacted the delivery of healthcare and therefore everyone in the U.S and especially with each reform new challenges, changes, benefits and/or problems for the HIM professionals and their roles and all they consist of. An HIM professional can work in many environments, including from home, private offices, doctors offices, nursing homes, hospitals and anywhere else that healthcare and/or PHI and/or EHR are handled. The HIM profession not only exists physically in numerous healthcare places but can work in numerous areas in the field such as medical billing and coding, a secretary, in any health area as a clerk, with many electronic systems such as HHS, MPI, HER, RIS and so many more and as the medical...
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...Darl A. Hammacher Jr. IST 293 21 July 2013 HIPAA and Information Security In a society where you can find out nearly everything about a person by simply using the internet, there are still certain aspects of people’s lives that remain private thanks to certain federal and state laws. These laws have been enacted to not only maintain privacy of patients, but to reduce costs and fraud in the field they are related to. The continued growth of the population and growth of the ability to obtain private information has compelled the government to continuously create and update laws to protect its citizens. One of the most important laws of the 2000’s was the passing of HIPAA, or Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA was designed to not only protect patients and their families, but also to cut down on cost and fraud within the medical field. If you have been to the doctor and signed any forms before you were seen, one of them was most definitely a HIPAA release form. HIPAA was created in 1996 as part of the Social Security Act. Since 1996, Congress has added many amendments to the Act, but the basic premise has remained the same. Title I of the HIPAA law was created in an effort to help employees and their families keep their health insurance in the event of a job loss or job change and define the time limits for pre-existing conditions clauses. Title II of HIPAA act was designed to also combat and deter fraud within the medical community as well as setting...
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...(HIPPA) Privacy Rule Abstract As one of the regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) of 1996, Public Law 104-191; the HIPPA Privacy Rule sets “the standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information” (Speers, Wilcox, & Brown 2004). Established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2002, this set of national standards deals with the use and disclosure of health information, in addition to the principles guiding patients’ rights over their health information; which includes the right to review, obtain a copy of their health records, and request corrections. The ultimate goal of the Privacy Rule is to protect the confidentiality of patients’ health information while enabling the use of this information for appropriate health care related purposes. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) Privacy Rule The Privacy Rule contains standards that outline terms for the electronic exchange, use, and privacy protection of patients’ personally identifiable medical information; also referred to as protected health information (PHI). These standards apply to the following covered entities: health clearinghouses, health plans, and health providers who transmit health information in electronic form; (Hoffman & Podgurski, 2007). Health clearinghouses are businesses that are utilized to process PHI into data formats used by health plans and healthcare providers...
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...Introduction: The privacy and security of patient’s health information is an important challenge and responsibility for every healthcare organization and a concern for every United States citizen. To receive healthcare, patients must reveal information that is very personal and often sensitive in nature. Most of the patient-physician relationships depend on very high levels of trust at the same time they also trust that the healthcare organization will protect their confidential healthcare information with belief of security and privacy. It is an ethical and legal responsibility for every healthcare organization to protect patient’s health information and should make a management plan for security and privacy of this confidential health information. “Disasters and security incidents may threaten the organization’s ability to carry out its mission as well as other operational functions. Advance planning and preparation will allow the organization to continue serving its patients and community to ensure the availability of patient protected health information as well as business information” (MHC IT Disaster Recovery Plan, 2006). If access to data is not safe and precise during a natural disaster, there are bound to be many privacy concerns. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the natural disaster case scenario of a small town on the Gulf Coast that was struck by a hurricane and the detailed management plan for the security and privacy of the affected patient’s...
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...HEALTH INSURACE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA) Abstract This paper will explain what HIPAA is, a brief history and background of it; why it is so important, what are the rules, who is protected, who needs to follow the rules and who does not, who can see the patent information, and what kind of right the patent has. In general, this paper will cover and the importance of HIPAA, and the impacts that have on consumers and providers. This paper examines Mark A. Rothstein (2013) The Federal Register published the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) omnibus amendments to the Health Insurance Portability Act (HIPAA) Privacy, security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Keywords: HIPAA privacy and security of health care records. THE HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA) Understanding HIPAA What is HIPAA? Department of health defined HIPAA as the federal Health insurance portability and accountability act. The objective is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the health care industry control administrative cost. HIPAA is written in 1996, enacted in April 14, 2001 and mandated in April 15, 2003. HIPAA is composed of two main rules; The HIPAA privacy rule and The HIPAA security rule. The HIPAA privacy rule provides for the privacy of individual’s personally identifiable health information...
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...Healthcare Law and IT 1 Healthcare Law and IT 2 Healthcare as a whole has undergone an enormous transformation in recent years. The United States spends more on healthcare delivery, in terms of a percentage of GDP, than any other country in the world. Much of that cost is related to research and improvements in technology and information systems, as well as implementing them in an effort to reduce healthcare costs over time. That is where healthcare informatics comes into effect. According to Health Services Research Information Central, the definition of health informatics is, “the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption, and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management, and planning.” Healthcare informatics is used to gather, analyze, and interpret data and information about patients and treatments. This information, along with business and management information, is used to interpret how things are and to develop a better, more efficient and more cost effective method of operation. The big question is, how does healthcare informatics and technology effect or impact the development and implementation of healthcare law? One of the most effective technologies that has been widely adopted already is electronic health records. EHR are systems that track and record patient information. It also makes them more accessible and easier to share and communicate between doctors, patients and insurance companies. Electronic...
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...medical savings accounts, to improve access to long-term care services and coverage, to simplify the administration of health insurance, and for other purposes. HIPAA Colloquial acronym(s) Enacted by the 104th United States Congress Citations Public Law Stat. Pub.L. 104–191 110 Stat. 1936 [1] [2] Legislative history [3] • • • • • • • • • Introduced in the House as H.R. 3103 [4] by Bill Archer (D-TX) on March 18, 1996 [5] Committee consideration by: House Ways and Means Passed the House on March 28, 1996 (267–151 Passed the Senate on April 23, 1996 (100-0 [6] ) [7] ) [8] ) and by the Senate on , in lieu of S. 1028 Reported by the joint conference committee on July 31, 1996; agreed to by the House on August 1, 1996 (421–2 [9] August 2, 1996 (98–0 ) Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21, 1996 e v t [10] The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA; Pub.L. 104–191 [1], 110 Stat. 1936 [2] , enacted August 21, 1996) was enacted by the United States Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It has been known as the Kennedy–Kassebaum Act or Kassebaum-Kennedy Act after two of its leading sponsors.[11] Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs. Title II of HIPAA, known as the Administrative...
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