HIPAA Certification
As per rules of HIPAA, every individual whose working in a covered entity and handles medical records (electronic and on papers) of patients, must undergo HIPAA certification training. This training must be provided a qualified instructor.
This training is provided by independent training centers. Companies hire professionals from these centers to train and educate their employees and high level management about every aspect of HIPAA. Once the training is completed, the training institutes provides a HIPAA certification to every employee who has completed the training successfully. These certifications are used to prove the skills of the employees during OCR inspections.
HIPPA training can be done in many different manners. The employees can choose a one-on-one instructor led training method, classroom training, online training, virtual classroom training or on-site training. Different companies choose different methods to provide this training.
Covered entities like hospitals, health insurance providers, healthcare clearing houses etc. are required by the law to provide training to their employees. Failure to comply with this law might end-up in a fine for them. Most covered entities prefer to provide group training instead of one-on-one training as it is much more time consuming. In big companies, one-on-one training may also cost too much and disrupt the company’s budget.
On-site training is also more preferred as compared to classroom training as the employees can get first hand idea about how to manage the records and other formalities in their own work place. This also saves a lot of time of the employees and they don’t need to waste time in commuting to and from the training center.
But classroom training also has a number of benefits. It provides a more focused training as students only concentrate on their training and are not interrupted by constant phone calls and emails at their workstations. Classroom training also facilitates better interaction between students, which facilitates a better understanding about training. Visual and hearing aid can also be provided in the classroom training to help the students.
If you are planning to arrange for HIPAA training sessions for yourself or your firm, make sure that the training provider you choose is capable in handling your firm. Every company has different requirements in terms of situation, time period and method of training. Training provider must be capable in this.
HIPAA training is an important aspect of the HIPAA law and should not be taken lightly.
Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for enforcing and managing (HIPAA) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The department mandates certifications for various entities in the compliance of this law. There are no official companies which provide these certifications.
The covered entities, which include hospitals, health care providers, health insurance companies, doctors, etc., are required conduct evaluations which classify the extent to which covered entities comply with the requirements of HIPAA law. These evaluations can be done internally or externally by an organization which will provide a certification that the entity’s policies and procedures regarding security of data are in compliance with the law.
Here, it should be noted that an individual who has the access to confidential identifiable information of people, doesn’t require having HIPAA certification. Rather, he or she must undergo training to learn the right methods to handle the data.
Following entities require HIPAA certification:
- Covered Entity – Every conduct entity is required comply with each and every rule listed in HIPAA. The HHS office of General (OIG) conduct regular audits and inspections to ensure that all the security and privacy rules are being followed. These inspections are done onsite and prior information is sent to the entity. OIG provides a list of documents that a covered entity must provide during the inspection.
- Business Associates – Every business associate of a covered entity is required to get HIPAA compliance certification. Business associates must comply with the terms f Business associate agreement they have entered with a covered entity. If a business associate is not in compliance with the HIPAA, as per its agreement, then its contract may be terminated and the firm can also be fined.
Business associates must create their Privacy and Security procedures and policies according to HIPAA law. Risk analysis and disaster recovery plan should also be conducted.
HIPAA certification is a way of proving that a covered entity is working according to the requirements given by HIPAA. The entity can prove that it is taking essential steps in securing private health information of every individual under its jurisdiction. It also establishes whether disclosure of information is being performed in the correct manner or not.