...Releasing Protected Health Information Chasity Halfhill HCR/210 May 24, 2015 Courtney Werkheiser Established by the U.S. Congress in 1996 and made effective July 1, 1997, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a group of regulations working against abuse and fraud in health insurance and the delivery of health care. HIPAA’s purpose also includes improving the health care system’s effectiveness and efficiency, providing for the continuation of health insurance coverage, and delivering consequences for organizations and individuals who do not comply with HIPAA regulations (Highmark, 2007). Different representatives and agencies can request, with or without patients consent, patients protected health information (PHI). PHI is information that is connected to an individual and includes name, telephone number, address, date of birth, social security number, name of employer, and/or Medicaid identification number (Green and Bowie, 2005). Many situations arise when the government has the legal obligation or right to a patients medical records. For example, state agencies are required to keep records of deaths and births. They must also maintain registries of people who have received a diagnosis of a serious illness like cancer...
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...Protected Health Care Information is to maintain and protect patient’s information from being disclosed to another person such as patient, co workers and agencies. Personal Health Information is not always require to have a consent from a patient, law enforcement research purposes and workers compensation would need a patients consent to agree or disagree with releasing personal information. Government Agencies: Or any provider would have to have a written consent to obtain any information on a patient, this would include all government agencies such as Social Services and Disability. Legal agencies and representatives: Can release and Personal History Information on patients that have experienced any kind of domestic abuse or any kind of neglect. This would only be done if there would be no chanced of putting the patient in any kind of danger, law enforcement may acquire the Personal History Information. The reports can be directly on locating suspects, injuries on suspects and times and dates; law enforcement would not be able to receive any information without consent on DNA or anything with bodily fluids. Research groups: Allows certain doctors to obtain patients files for research purposes only, they can use and resend information to other providers or researchers, this would not require a patient’s signature for the research that is being done with their information. Although the providers would be using patient’s medical information for research their identities would...
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...Administrative Ethics Paper Heather Simmons HCS/335 September 19, 2011 Claudia Haywood Administrative Ethics Paper Health care organizations are responsible for the privacy and proper handling of people’s personal medical and financial information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been set into place to set the standards to organizations on how to handle patient information and how to deal with any situation that may arise to the best interest of the patient and the organization. There are situations that will arise, and the organization must be prepared to handle it. An instance may arise when the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may have to get involved. The HHS is an organization designed to help enforce the HIPAA rules and regulations and make sure organizations are in compliance with HIPAA. Recently, a major health care organization in Massachusetts, The General Hospital Corporation and Massachusetts General Organization Inc. (Mass General), settled to pay the U.S. Government $1,000,000 because of a HIPAA violation. Documents containing protected health information (PHI) were lost and never recovered from an employee losing a folder containing 192 patient’s records. The employee took the records from the hospital and while riding the subway returning back to work, the employee left the records on the train. The investigation of the missing records was started from a patient discovering their record was lost and...
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...------------------------------------------------- Releasing protected health information Whitney Garcia March 20, 2016 March 20, 2016 “Resource: Ch. 9 of Essentials of Health Information Management Explain, using 700 to1,050 words, when covered entities may release protected health information only with a patient’s consent and when they may release it without consent, for each category: * Government agencies * Legal agencies or representatives * Research groups Discuss the principles that permit disclosure of protected health information without a patient’s consent, and state whether or not you feel privacy safeguards are adequate to support those principles.” Protected health information is the key to every single individual’s health records. It is their right to have it protected and for us to use it wisely, and properly and discuss it in a professional manner with others. There is so many things with in a patient’s record such as home addresses, socials, if they had std’s, abortions, miscarriages, anything a patient could be ashamed of and embarrassed to let others know about. So they put a lot of trust in us to keep that information protected and always have their consent and give them the knowledge that it is being shared. So in regards to government agencies yes they can have access to patient’s information as long as the patient does give them consent. For instance if an individual claims to be disabled and tries to get...
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...ways that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations may affect the medical billing process. While researching, the findings conclude that confidentiality of health information was adopted centuries ago. The findings of the research show that although, HIPAA laws have been put into place to protect the privacy and confidential heath information of patients; HIPAA laws are sometimes violated. The medical billing coders are sometimes careless when handling confidential information; however medical health records should be protected adequately. The coder that violates the HIPAA laws concerning the confidentiality and privacy of patient health information can suffer serious ramifications. The ramifications of these violations could result in serious penalties such as disciplinary actions by the employer, monetary fines, and jail time, or both. HIPAA violations ranks number one among the complaints received by the Office of Civil Rights each year. Humans take pleasure in the right to privacy in every aspect of life. The right of protecting the confidentiality and privacy of identifiable personal health information takes first priority and is greatly cherished among most. The Hippocratic Oath, dating back centuries required physicians to keep medical information concerning their patients a secret. However, in today’s society medical health information is maintained by more than the physician and patient. Personal health information is retained in...
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...Restrict physical access. 10. Track and monitor all access to systems and data. 11. Regularly test security. 12. Maintain a security policy. | HIPAA | To ensure that health information data is protected. Health information is any data that is created or received by health care providers, health plans, public health authorities, employers, life insurers, schools or universities, and health care clearinghouses. It relates to any past, present, or future health, physical health, mental health, or condition of an individual, and past, present, and or future payments for health care. | Security standards: Specific standards are to be used for storage of data, use of data, and transmission of data.Privacy standards: Data must not be shared with anyone without the express consent of the patient.Penalties: Penalties include mistakes, knowingly obtaining or releasing data, obtaining or disclosing data under false pretenses, and obtaining or disclosing data for personal gain or malicious harm. | FERPA | To protect the privacy of student records. This includes education data and health data. FERPA applies to all schools that receive any funding from the U.S. Department of Education. | FERPA grants rights to parents of students under 18. All personally identifiable information (PII) about the student must be protected. Schools usually need permission to release PII. | SOX | To reduce...
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...This form is used to release info “ TO” SC OBGYN AUTHORIZATION TO RELEASE PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION ____________________________________ ___________________________________________________ (Patient’s Full Name at Time of Treatment) (Patient’s Address, City, State, & Zip Code) ______________ (Chart #) __________________ (Patient’s Date of Birth) ________________________ (Patient’s Social Security #) (Purpose of Release) (_____) __________________ (Patient’s Telephone #) ______________________ (Date(s) of Treatment) ________________________________________________________________ I AUTHORIZE _________________________________________________ (Releasing Facility’s or Provider’s Name) _________________________________________________ ( Address, City, State, & Zip Code) to RELEASE my health information TO: South Carolina Ob-Gyn Associates, P.A. 1333 Taylor Street, Suite 2-D Columbia, SC 29201 ( SECURE FAX # 803-799-1635 ) INFORMATION TO BE RELEASED: (Please check all that apply) ALL Medical Information Diagnosis List / Patient Identification Laboratory Report(s) (type?) ________________ Physician Dictation (type?) __________________ Office Notes (type?) _________________________ Mammogram Report(s) Radiology Reports _________________________ Billing Info (type?) ________________________ Other ____________________________________ =========================================================== 1.) I understand that if my records contain...
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...Releasing Personal Health information By: Serena O’Horo HCR 210 In order to fully understand when it is ok for government agencies, legal agencies or representatives, and research groups to release information with or without patient consent, we need to have a full understanding of what protected health information is. Protected health information also known as PHI, is any type of information such as the patients name, date of birth, or social security number, that can be used to identify the patient. Protected health information can also include; telephone numbers, address, employer information, insurance ID numbers (includes Medicaid and Medicare), and the patient’s medical record file number. Protected health information must never be given out without the consent of the patient. Patients must fill out the paper consent form and sign and date the paperwork in order for the information to be released. HIPAA provided the guidelines that must be followed in order for the form to be used for authorization. According to the AMA website, a valid release typically includes the” patient’s name and other identifying information, the address of the health care professional/institution, description of the information that is being released, the identity of the party that the information is being sent to, language authorizing the release of the information, the signature of the patient or authorized individual, and the time period for which the release remains valid...
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...The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a federal law that requires covered health care entities, such as hospitals, to make sure a patient's health information is kept private. The HIPAA privacy rule is not intended to prohibit providers from talking to each other and to their patients. The privacy rule recognizes that oral communications often must occur freely and quickly in treatment settings. Thus, covered entities are free to engage in communications as required for quick, effective and high quality health care. These advances in information technology resulted in new ethical issues especially in transmission of one’s medical record from one provider to the other. Most health care providers require a written release of information from the patient or legal guardian before releasing health records. Records released are either through mail or sealed envelopes handed to the patient. But lately there are other ways that are quicker and easier to send and receive these records without hassles. A patient can just call the health care provider to request for a record and fax or email the signed release of information form. In return the requested record can be send to a provider’s office through fax or email. The new healthcare provider is able to receive information in a much quicker method and the patient can receive faster quality of care. The problem arises when emails or facsimiles are viewed by those who are not authorized to access and...
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...required orientation, and she had just started performing her work duty with minimal supervision. However, the important precursor of this error should not be about honest mistakes, instead the adequacy of the training Francine received should be questioned, and whether or not it is appropriate to let allow a new employee work without supervision in areas of protected health information is likely to breach. Asasif the director of the HIM department should ensure that all staff members including the newly hired received the appropriated training...
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...For Official use only STANDARD CLAIM FORM General Claim Form PLEASE TYPE OR PRINT IN INK Mail or deliver Office of Financial Management No. original claim Risk Management Division General Administration Building, Room ….. …………………………………………………. …………………………………………………. Post Office Box ……………………………… …………………………………….., Malaysia Business Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Closed on weekends and official state holidays. CLAIMANT INFORMATION 1. Claimant's name: ____________________________________________________________ ________________________________ 2. Date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy) [ _ _ - _ _ -_ _ _ _] 3. Current residential address: ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ 4. Mailing address (if different): ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ ____________________________________________________________ _______________________ 5. Residential address at the time of the incident (if different from current address): ...
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...our society. These devices allow substantial efficiencies in access to and communication of information by health professionals. The efficiencies and conveniences of mobile communication are even more astonishing in that they have become accepted and expected aspects of everyday life within a very brief time period (Taube, 2013). In today’s world a high percentage of physicians carry some mode of mobile communication that enables them to care for their patients when away from their physical practice. As mobile devices have developed, we now have the ability to write and receive emails, dictation, filming, photographing, and image sharing available to most smart phone users. All of these features drastically increase the chance that a patient’s privacy could be breached. If a physician’s mobile device is lost or stolen there is a substantially higher risk of disclosure of a large volume of detailed, identifiable treatment and personal contact information for a wide range of the physician’s patients. Ethical and legal issues Mobile devices are particularly vulnerable to loss and theft because of their small size and portability. The most common form of security breach is the theft of a cell phone. In addition, clinicians are far more likely to use their own personal mobile devices, rather than employer-issued mobile devices, to access and exchange electronic protected health information (ePHI) (Barrett, 2011). Unfortunately, with the advancement of technology the computer...
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...Associate Level Material Appendix A Final Project Overview and Timeline Final Project Overview As Happy Health Medical Clinic’s records manager, create a presentation outlining standard records management procedures for the employees who work in your facility. Note that the purpose of this presentation is not to define what the aspects of records management mean, but to illustrate the practical procedures employees must follow to handle patient records effectively. Review the Final Project description in Week Nine of the syllabus for important details about this assignment. Final Project Timeline You should budget your time wisely and work on your project throughout the course. As outlined below, some assignments in the course are designed to assist you in creating your final project. If you complete your course activities and use the feedback provided by the instructor, you will be on the right track to successfully complete your project. □ Suggested in Week Two: As you conduct your interviews for Appendix B, take note of how a medium-sized facility differs from small and large facilities. Consider how particular types of health care settings necessarily incur different types of records management issues. □ Suggested in Week Three: Choose the type of record format you think is most suitable for Happy Health—your guidelines will need to inform staff how to create new records and how to use the manual effectively. Also, describe Happy Health’s record retention...
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...Releasing Protected Health Information Rebecca Bratcher HCR/210 07/18/12 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act of 1996 or HIPAA, was put in place as an attempt to reform health care during the Clinton administration by making it possible for workers, of any profession, to change jobs regardless if the worker, or any member of their family, have a pre-existing medical condition, decreasing paperwork which is associated with the processing of health claims, and by reducing health care abuse and fraud, and by assuring the privacy and security of health information. HIPAA’s standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information or privacy rule includes restrictions which protect the confidentiality and security of health information, and determines a criterion to protect the confidentiality of individually identifiable health information that is maintained or transmitted through electronic means in association with certain administrative and financial transactions such as electronic transfer of health insurance claims. The covered entity, in most cases, is required to obtain an individual’s authorization prior to disclosing any health information. And in most circumstances the patient or a legal representative of the patient controls the disclosure of PHI to any third party. . The act was put into place to improve portability of health insurance coverage, to reduce fraud and abuse in health insurance, reduce the cost and administrative...
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...Administrative Ethics Administrative ethics is essential to developing a rewarding compensation plan that produces strategies within a policy effectively to execute a plan successfully within an organization. An example of this is the Affirmative Action of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). In this paper the reading will discuss EEO and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and the impact it has on the population as a whole, it is meant to protect the general public, promote the common good when dealing with health care and review arguments used to support solutions as well as review ethical, and legal issues that need to be reported regarding administrative issues. I will also address managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues as well as identify a proposed solution. The EEO according to the Unites States Department of Labor (2009) is an independent federal agency that was developed to promote equal opportunity within an organization through administrative and judicial enforcement of federal civil rights laws through technical assistance as well as education to the working public on how to utilize the program. EEO laws were also created to allow Human Resources (HR) professionals the ability to hire qualified staff members through the process of conducting in depth interviews of applicants before selecting the best qualified individual to fit the job requirements without discriminating any possible candidates that...
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