Hipaa.In » HIPAA Guide http://www.hipaa.in One Spot Hipaa Portal Covers All Hipaa Topics Tue, 01 Jun 2010 04:01:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 HIPAA to implement strict rules to Safeguard Patient Health Information http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-to-implement-strict-rules-to-safeguard-patient-health-information.html http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-to-implement-strict-rules-to-safeguard-patient-health-information.html#comments Fri, 28 May 2010 04:26:24 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=146 United States Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is HIPAA and includes HIPAA I and HIPAA II. HIPAA I deals with health insurance rules related to people who have lost or changed their jobs. The HIPAA II is to develop a standard process that needs to be adhered to by the health providers. HIPAA II is most important and popular and sets the rules for safeguarding patient health data. This helps to safeguard the patients and the health insurance organisations from the malpractices because of fake identity.

HIPAA is implementing strict rules and regulations to deal with health insurance related malpractices like the sale of important health data of patients to lawyers to earn money. Recently action has been taken with the aim to make sharing of people’s electronic health records.

In the month of November 2009, 8 federal agencies sanctioned a notice approval form. This form makes compulsory for the health agencies to reveal to the customers the procedure through which their data is obtained and disbursed. This helps the customer to take an effective decision to avail or reject the service.

The new rule empowers the government to initiate legal proceedings against the defaulter for not adhering to HIPAA compliance, taking criminal action and levying hefty fines.

The last rule of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in accordance with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes it compulsory for the health agencies to inform any violation of patient health record to the customer. The media should be informed if there is breach of 500 or more patient health data. The rule also specifies the time, matter and procedure of conveying the breach.

The Recovery act makes it compulsory for HHS or Department of Health and Human Services to carry out a research on the stakeholders that dispense health services but are not under the umbrella of the HIPAA. The intent is to draw up norms on how such parties can dispense their healthcare services simultaneously safeguarding important patient information.

Ultimately, newer and more stringent rules point towards the exercises of the regulatory bodies to put an end to malpractices that are inherent to the process despite security measures that are in place. The only intention is to ensure the electronic sharing of confidential health records safe and resistant to tampering. This will plug the losses that the state and the people incur on account of fraudulent claims.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-to-implement-strict-rules-to-safeguard-patient-health-information.html/feed 0 HIPAA – Difference between Security and Privacy Violations http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-difference-between-security-and-privacy-violations.html http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-difference-between-security-and-privacy-violations.html#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 05:30:15 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-difference-between-security-and-privacy-violations.html Many health vendors are joining the HITECH bandwagon and are offering their own products and services. All these, products and services, are aimed at protecting against any breaches covered under HIPAA. There has been enough communication within the industry to show that it does not properly distinguish between the two kinds of breaches, i.e., privacy breaches and security breaches.

A privacy breach is said to have been perpetuated, when a properly authenticated and authorized user looks into a patient’s record without any particular need or requirement to do so. For example, a doctor looking at a record of a patient to review information, if he is not treating that person at the moment, is termed as privacy breach.

This privacy breach has to be disclosed under the HITECH regulations. The same doctor, however, cannot be booked for privacy breach when he pulls up the records a week later, as he is treating that patient at that particular time.

A security breach occurs when there is a successful hacking carried out into a system, disks or unencrypted laptops and computers containing identifiable patient details. This also implies a privacy breach, as it is an unauthorized access to private data. But strangely enough, a privacy breach cannot be termed as a security breach.

Many experts conclude that protection against security breaches is a prevention of privacy breaches. Prevention of security breaches can be easily accomplished through a two-factor authentication at the data workstation, locking terminals to prevent improper and unauthorized usage of data; other authentication approaches for clinical users should also be included. The latter is an important way to prevent privacy breaches, but is the more difficult of the two to achieve.

The introduction of HITECH regulations has extended the bite of the HIPAA framework. Healthcare organizations are now required, under law, to disclose a patients privacy breach to the patient who has been effected. In certain cases, a notification of the same has to be made to the secretary of Health and Human Services. This much talked about HIPAA and HITECH compliance and the application and desktop virtualization can therefore be an effective means of protecting against security breaches.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-difference-between-security-and-privacy-violations.html/feed 0 Filing a HIPAA complaint http://www.hipaa.in/filing-a-hipaa-complaint.html http://www.hipaa.in/filing-a-hipaa-complaint.html#comments Tue, 04 May 2010 08:56:53 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=123 HIPAA Safety Rule creates a system for Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) that collects and analyzes data received from medical care providers and checks any medical errors in them. This is done to increase patient safety and quality health care in US. HIPAA safety rule provides patient safety work product (PSWP) to ensure fair usage of the information.

PSWP is the data (1) developed or accumulated by health care providers to send to a PSO that has been enlisted for Healthcare Research and Quality and is recorded in the patient safety evaluation system of the health care provider; (2) created by a PSO to conduct activities relating to patient safety; or (3) that identifies deliberations and the fact of a safety evaluation system for patients.

PSWP is a completely confidential and should be disclosed in only a handful of situations. This product should be held as confidential protected, no matter who is holding it.

If a person things that a covered entity under HIPAA or an individual has violated the safety and privacy rules and have disclosed PSWP, he or she can file an HIPAA complaint. This complaint can be filed with OCR who is responsible to investigate any filed HIPAA complaints and enforce all provisions of privacy and safety rule.

The OCR will investigate and provide all possible technical assistant to the complainant and help them get and informal resolution by persuading the violators to comply with the norms voluntarily. If OCR can’t get an informal resolution, the Secretary can ask the violator to pay a fine of up to $11,000 for every unlawful disclosure.

Following requirements should be fulfilled, in order to file an HIPAA complaint:

  1. It should be in writing and can be sent through email, mail or fax.
  2. The person who is the subject of complaint should be named in the complaint and all the alleged violations of HIPAA done should be described thoroughly.
  3. The complaints should filed in 6 months or 180 days following the realization of the violation. But in case there is a good reason, OCR can extend this time limit.

Anyone can file an HIPAA complaint as soon as he realizes that his or her privacy has been violated by any covered entity.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/filing-a-hipaa-complaint.html/feed 1 HIPAA: What is it? http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-what-is-it.html http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-what-is-it.html#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 05:42:02 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=105 HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act was introduced to stop the injustices incurred by medical and health insurance institutions regarding patients’ health records. Before the inception of this Act, the entire medical system in United States of America was unregulated and ill-managed. Thankfully, HIPAA has been able to create many positive changes into this.

But there are still many instances of violations in HIPAA and as a patient, you must know what are your rights regarding an apparent violation in this act. But before we come to the violations, you must know the actions which are permitted under this act. HIPPA gives you the right to find out everything about your healthcare and also choose your own doctor.  It also improves your accessibility towards group healthcare plans.

Patients are entitled to see and have a copy of their medical records. None of their medical information can be shared without prior notice to them. This act has also empowered people to switch jobs without losing health care. As a result, it became necessary to find a solution that would reduce the cost of administration without compromising with HIPAA and the solution was to computerize the entire medical record system in insurance companies and hospitals.

It must be mentioned that many insurance companies were not in favor of this act, since it caused a lot of financial strain on them. The high level of administrative work required to comply with this act was a major concern for most providers who were not in agreement with HIPPA voiced their displeasure at the privacy requirements; noting that they would put financial strain on providers while they put measures in place to comply. The law originally caused tens of thousands of privacy rule violation complaints.

The electronic system for record keeping has not only made it extremely cost efficient to manage records of patients, but has also been helpful in providing better privacy to the records. Another great advantage of electronic records system is that it allows quick transfer of medical records of a patient from one hospital to another, in case of an emergency. This can be detrimental in saving many lives.

Any individual institution found to be guilty of violating HIPAA, has to pay fine in accordance with the severity of the crime. There have been over 9000 verdicts in civil courts regarding HIPAA violations, ever since it came into force.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/hipaa-what-is-it.html/feed 0 Complete HIPAA Guide http://www.hipaa.in/complete-hipaa-guide.html http://www.hipaa.in/complete-hipaa-guide.html#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:00:53 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=99 HIPAA is the abbreviation for the health insurance portability and accountability act, which was initially enforced in 1996, but all the rules and regulations, which come under this act, became fully operational only in the year 2003. The main purpose behind the enforcement of HIPAA was that when people will continue to have access to their medical insurance when they are shifting their jobs or even when they are looking for a job. Initially it was a very difficult task to get the medical insurance company changed without paying very heavy premiums. Another benefit of the implementation of HIPAA is that it helps in protecting the medical records and other medical information of patients and this has also created a proper standard or benchmark for the management of the personal medical information of all patients.

Portability is something, which many people have not yet understood. Previously whenever a person quit his job or got fired from his current job, his medical insurance would immediately expire on termination of services from the company. When he applied for medical insurance once again with his new employer his medical state of health would be classified under the tag of pre-existing conditions. Due to this clause, the insurance company was not under any obligation to reimburse the amount, which was being spent in order to cure such a medical condition. When a person has been taking medicines regularly for high blood pressure, the medical insurance company did not have to reimburse the amount spent on these medicines since this is already a pre-existing medical condition.

Under the rules and regulations of HIPAA, no conditions could be laid down by the insurance companies regarding pre-existing conditions, the new employers would have to renew the existing insurance policy and they were also not allowed to charge high premiums. Apart from all these, they have also stated that health insurance should be made portable between companies. This is extremely useful for people who are shifting jobs. They will not have to worry about gaining coverage for their medical insurance and having to pay huge medical bills.

According to HIPAA, accountability means the standards and benchmarks which need to be followed regarding the exchange of private medical information between insurance companies, health care providers, pharmacies, patients and all other covered entities. With the advent of technology and electronic mail, violating the privacy of the medical information of a patient has become much easier.

HIPAA has given the department of Health and Human Services the right to create rules regarding the transfer as well as the management of information, which is sensitive and private. They have also established codes, which will help in the process of identifying medical expenses as well as administrative expenses. A system of creating national Ids for all health care providers as well as insurance companies has also been established by the department of Health and Human Services. All the required policies and procedures should be implemented to make sure that the private medical information of all patients is secured and protected.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/complete-hipaa-guide.html/feed 0 Medical billing software and HIPAA http://www.hipaa.in/medical-billing-software-and-hipaa.html http://www.hipaa.in/medical-billing-software-and-hipaa.html#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:57:41 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=97 HIPAA is the acronym for the health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996. This is the first federal act, which has been passed which has been designed to ensure the protection of the privacy of the personal medical information of the patient. Privacy regulations have been created in order to ensure that the electronic medical records of the patient have been protected in the right manner and kept confidential from the public. It is becoming more and more difficult for health care companies to ensure that they abide by all the legal rules and regulations like HIPAA. These rules make sure that the standards and benchmarks regarding all kinds of electronic transactions with medical information are followed in the right manner.

Nowadays it is becoming more and more difficult of find software, which has been prepared in compliance with all the rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA. Such software is very expensive to procure especially for any small-scale medical office. There are many large scale medical offices and medical billing houses which have already adopted some strong security measures and the implementation of the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA will not mean any kind of dramatic change for them. Small medical billing houses and medical offices will not have the right kind of security measures and polices and they will have to implement some drastic changes in order to ensure that they comply with all the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA.

The rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA, have been classified into four main subdivisions namely administrative safeguards, physical safeguards, security services and security mechanisms. There is no specific software, which can be termed as HIPAA compliant software. The medical practice or the medical office should make all the required arrangements in order to ensure that the organization is following all the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA. Compliance of the rules under HIPAA is a responsibility and obligation, which has to be fulfilled by all medical practices and health care organizations. Workstations should be placed in secure locations inside any organizations any person who does not have the required authorization should not be allowed to access this kind of information.

Software which is being used for medical billing as well as for practice management are two of the most vital areas which have been affected by the changes which have been brought about by HIPAA. According to the security rules, which come under HIPAA, if the health information, which is being stored in an electronic manner, needs to be protected, then all the security rules, which come under HIPAA, will be applicable.

Any kind of medical software, which is being used, should have proper facilities for data backup as well as data restoration. All medical providers should make a proper list as to how information is being created and stored and who has access to all this information and whether they have the authority to modify and delete that information.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/medical-billing-software-and-hipaa.html/feed 0 Need for adherence to HIPAA regulations http://www.hipaa.in/need-for-adherence-to-hipaa-regulations.html http://www.hipaa.in/need-for-adherence-to-hipaa-regulations.html#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 05:01:46 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=94 Farah Fawcett who is well known all over the world for the famous roles, which she has portrayed on television as well as films, was recently on the news headlines when confidential medical information about her health problems had been leaked to all the tabloids and newspapers. Though many people have made statements about letting film stars and celebrities having some privacy, the act of publicizing the medical details of Ms Fawcett is a violation of a federal law. The Health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 was created in order to ensure that the medical records of every person are stored and maintained in a confidential manner and no person will be allowed to access this information without the right kind of authorization.

Companies, which are involved in the collection of health, related information from people will be known as covered entities under HIPAA. All these entities will have to abide by all the rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA. All kinds of hospitals, clinics, health insurance companies which deal in medical policies, private practices which are being conducted by general practitioners, specialists, dentists, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists and all kinds of medical billing centers and collection agencies are some of the covered entities which come under HIPAA. It is very essential to safeguard the information pertaining to every patient regardless of how many employees there are in an organization.

Patients who are coming to a clinic or a hospital for medical attention should be rest assured that all their details will be kept confidential. All the employees of the organization should make sure that the privacy of the information with regard to the patient has not been compromised in any manner. All the medical information which come under the purview of these medical laws are details of the prescription, records of the past medical history of the patient, record of all the appointments, messages which have been delivered either over the phone or through voice mail, forms with regard to medical insurance as well as insurance claims and any kind of information with regard to billing.

When the information, which has been stored regarding the patient, becomes outdated, it should be destroyed in such a manner that no traces are left and the privacy of the patient is also protected. All companies and organizations, which have been classified, as covered entities under HIPAA should make adequate arrangements to ensure that all the relevant documents have been destroyed in a proper manner. Every single bit of paper or printout should be eliminated in the right manner. Simply throwing the papers in the garbage dump does not mean that the right measures have been resorted to. It is possible for anyone to find a stray piece of paper inside a garbage dump and this can give them access to a lot of information like credit card numbers as well as addresses. It is always better to make use of professional services in order to make sure that all stale medical records have been shredded and disposed in the right manner.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/need-for-adherence-to-hipaa-regulations.html/feed 0 Privacy rules under HIPAA http://www.hipaa.in/privacy-rules-under-hipaa.html http://www.hipaa.in/privacy-rules-under-hipaa.html#comments Sun, 18 Apr 2010 04:44:57 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=91 The privacy rules, which come under HIPAA, are not something, which is completely new for any person. Many people would have gone through the experience of signing the HIPAA form when they went for a visit to the doctor and this form will be stored along with the medical records of the patient. People who have had to undergo any kind of medical tests or those who have been hospitalized before would have to sign a HIPAA form along with many other consent forms.

In 1996, the US Congress passed the health insurance portability and accountability act, which will help in providing more protection for people with regard to insurance and the privacy of their medical information. These rules were also designed to help in improving the security measures with regard to the electronic exchange of data. The privacy rules of HIPAA were enforced in 2003, and these were designed to provide protection for the medical information of all patients like the status of their health, payment for the required health care etc. These rules regarding privacy will ensure that medical records of the patient and the details regarding the payment for the medical facilities are well guarded and protected.

The privacy rules which come under HIPAA state that any person or individual can ask for any kind of incorrect information to be completely removed from their medical records. Every individual also has the right to ensure that the privacy of his or her personal information has been maintained. Personal information pertains to personal contact details like the address, telephone number, social security number etc. If a person does not want any of his personal information to be revealed, then the authorities should respect this right. This law also gives people the right to procure a copy of their medical records whenever they want and this copy should be delivered within thirty days of the request being submitted. If any person feels that the security of his or her personal information has been compromised in any manner, then they can file a complaint with the office of civil rights, which comes under the department of Health and Human Services.

All the health care agencies, which come under HIPAA, should ensure that all the medical records of the patient are kept extremely private and confidential. The payment records of the patients also come under this. Just as how there are exceptions to every rule, this rule does not apply when there is a case of child abuse being investigated and the required information will have to be revealed to the concerned authorities. If someone has placed a request for personal information, then all the required authorization forms should be signed by the concerned individual before any kind of personal medical information or contact information has been released to the concerned authorities. Only the necessary amount of information should be released and nothing more than that should be revealed.  An official should be posted in order to ensure that the privacy of the information has been preserved as much as possible.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/privacy-rules-under-hipaa.html/feed 0 Problems in HIPAA compliance http://www.hipaa.in/problems-in-hipaa-compliance.html http://www.hipaa.in/problems-in-hipaa-compliance.html#comments Sat, 17 Apr 2010 04:52:28 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=89 In 1996, the Congress of the United States of America passed the health insurance portability and accountability act, which is very commonly known as HIPAA. The main purpose behind the enforcement of this law was to provide protection for the health information of every person. At the same time, provisions have been made for the right kind of trading of the right kind of information between covered entities under this act which include pharmacies, doctors, hospitals and many more. Companies and professionals who are involved in the field of health care are now being provided with access to medical software, which will comply with all the rules, which come under HIPAA.

The department of Health and Human Services in the United States has created a lot of standards to protect the health information of every individual and these are also known as the privacy rules, which come under HIPAA. This is the first time that uniform standards have been created and enforced all over the United States in order to protect the privacy of the medical information of the patient. The privacy rule has been completely written making use of legal terminology and it is very difficult for a layman to understand. All companies as well as professionals who are involved in the field of health care should be completely aware of all the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA.

The medical software which has been created in compliance with HIPAA has been designed in such a manner that it will help in protecting the privacy of the patient information and it will also allow the right people to gain access to that information when it is meant for the medical benefit of the patient. This medical software will change the way in which information management takes place. Problems in areas like coding, security of the information technology systems, changes in the personal records of the patient will also be taken care of with the help of this software. The process of reimbursement through medical insurance will also be made much more simpler through this software and all the issues which are related to the management of the health care of the patient will also be dealt with using this HIPAA compliant medical software.

Most of the office management systems are changing over from a paper based system to a computer managed office system. It is always better for all medical professionals to make use of medical software which has been created in compliance with HIPAA in order to ensure that they can easily transition from a paper based system to a computer based digital system. The usage of medical software, which has been created in compliance with HIPAA, will ensure that you abide by all the rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA. There are a large number of rules and regulations which come under HIPAA and it is also very essential to make sure that your medical software has always been updated on a regular basis so that you will continue to follow all the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA.

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]]> http://www.hipaa.in/problems-in-hipaa-compliance.html/feed 0 Security rules under HIPAA http://www.hipaa.in/security-rules-under-hipaa.html http://www.hipaa.in/security-rules-under-hipaa.html#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:07:39 +0000 admin http://www.hipaa.in/?p=84 HIPAA is the acronym for the health insurance portability and accountability act, which was enforced in 1996 by the Congress in the United States. This act was created so that many problems, which are being faced in the field of medical insurance coverage and regarding the privacy of the medical information of each person, can be taken care of. The security rules, which come under HIPAA, came into force in the year 2003, and the compliance data was implemented in the year 2005. The security rules and the privacy rules are similar in the fact that they help in ensuring that the privacy of the medical information of the patient is not violated. But the point of difference lies in the fact that the privacy rule is mainly concerned with the electronic information. There are three main areas, which come under the security rules, and they are the administrative, physical and technical areas.

Administrative area – According to these rules, all medical facilities and health care centers will follow standard rules and procedures when it comes to protecting the privacy of the patient. There should be a privacy officer who has been stationed to ensure that all the privacy policies are being enacted in the right manner. All employees who will be provided with access to electronic information should be properly identified and they should also be provided with the required authorization, which will not be made available to other employees. Only those employees who need to access this information in order to carry out their daily duties in the right manner should be provided with the authorization to access the personal medical information of all the patients. When any employees who have been outsourced are being provided entry into the health care facility, they should also follow all the rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA. Backup copies of all the medical details of the patient should also be preserved and proper measures should be taken to ensure that all these copies have been properly protected.

There are also security rules with regard to the physical safety of the hardware and the software, which have been used in the processing as well as the storage of all the medical information of the patients. No person can be given access to the medical information of the patients unless he has the required authorization. Maintenance records, security registers, sign-in forms of visitors should be checked in the proper manner. All monitors and screens, which are being used in order to display any kind of sensitive information, should be kept out of reach of the any people who do not have the required authorization.

The technical aspect of all the security rules is concerned with the safety and protection of all computers as well as the network systems and also protecting them from any kind of external invasion. All the transfer as well as the transmission of the data should be performed in a safe as well as secure manner and steps should be taken to ensure that no unauthorized person is able to intercept the information during the process of transmission.

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