HIPPA and the Privacy of Medical Records Essay

US Congress created the Hipaa bill in 1996 because of public concern of how their private information was being used. It is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which Congress created to protect confidentiality, privacy and security of patient information. It was also for health care documents to be passed electronically. Hipaa is a privacy rule, which gives patients control over their health information. Patients have to give permission any healthcare provider can disclose any information placed in the individual’s medical records. It helps limit protected health information (PHI) to minimize the chance of inappropriate disclosure. It establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers must comply with and strictly investigates compliance related issues while holding violators to civil or criminal penalties if they violate the privacy of a person’s PHI. Hipaa also has boundaries for using and disclosing health records by covered entities; a healthcare provider, health plan, and healthcare clearinghouse. It also supports the cause of disclosing PHI without a person’s consent for individual healthcare needs, public benefit and national interests. The portability part of Hipaa guarantees patients health insurance to employees after losing a job, making sure health insurance providers can’t discriminate against people because of health status or pre-existing condition, and keeps their files safe while being sent electronically. The Privacy

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996. This Act was put into place in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. The HIPAA law includes a Privacy

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a set of national standards created for the protection of health information; it is also known as a “Privacy Rule”. This rule was employed in 1996 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to address the use and disclosure of an individual’s health information as well as the standards for the individual’s privacy rights to understand and control the manner in which their information is used.

The main goal of HIPAA is to protect unauthorized access and misuse of confidential health information. It allows for the safe storage of any health facts used, collected, transmitted or maintained by any health organization. It states that all health information about a particular client is completely confidential, regardless of what the format is and whether it is transmitted, maintained or collected. Protected information is that health information that already identifies the patient or could be used in order to identify the patient; it also relates to any of the patient’s past, present or future health conditions, any treatment the patient receives and any payment the patient makes toward their care.

The forms restrict access to patient’s information by seeking the patient’s permission to disclose such information in certain circumstances only. The forms thus must be available in the HIPAA compliance manual. The HIPAA forms are crucial in implementing access controls to keep track of the persons who access the patient’s information. The new patient forms include patient history forms, patient registration form, advanced directive to physician forms, authorization for use and disclosure of protected health information, HIPAA Contact Disclosure, HIPAA notice of privacy practices (Acknowledgement), and well-being assessment form.

The Privacy Rule is the inclusion of the protection of patient’s information as part of the responsibilities for everyone who interact with patients and handles PHI (Protected Health Information). HIPAA protects any unauthorized disclosure of any personal identifiable health information, also call PHI. The Privacy Rules apply to covered entities such as health plans, clearinghouses, and health care providers that transmit health care data in a way that is regulated by HIPAA. National standards are set

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was implemented in 1996 and it required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to promote regulations that maintains and follow procedures that ensure the privacy and security of health information and protects patients' personal or protected health information (PHI). The HIPAA Privacy Rule regulations require health care providers and organizations, and their business associates to protect all individually identifiable health information when it is handled, transmitted, received, or shared. This information applies to all forms of protected health information (PHI), including digital, paper or oral. In addition, the information

Additionally, the penalties that were assessed within this case was based on the compliance of the policies and procedures of the HIPAA laws and was settled against Rite Aid by the rights of health information privacy. “Jill Granger and Laura Cataldo (2013) reports this standardization, originally suggested as a cost-saving measure by healthcare groups, eventually evolved to include federal protection of privacy with the introduction of the Privacy Rule, effective in 2001, for individually identifiable health information. This mandate established standards that dictated the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI), and addressed issues such as administrative handling of information and the keeping of records, as well as the

This presentation represents the role of Human Resource Management under HIPAA Privacy Law/PHI (Protected Health Information). Group 3 decided to do a skit based on a situation of an employee is out for a medical issue and it being discussed amongst the Supervisor and staff. This will demonstrate, as stated in the instructions, how these concepts are applied in an actual situation. You would be able to assess the problem in the presentation and consider a solution to the problem.

The Privacy Rule states that your personal health information can be used or shared for specific reasons that are not directly related to your care and some of these reasons include making sure physicians are giving the proper care to you as a patient, reporting influenza in your city or state or any required reporting by state or federal law. Regardless of whether it is being shared by physicians, health insurance providers or healthcare clearinghouses, a patient has the right to learn how their health information is used and if the purpose is not directly related to your care, then no health information can be disclosed without your permission. This means, without your written authorization, your physician cannot give your personal health information to your employer, other family members or share it for

With the proliferation of small personal and business computers in the 1990s, records were moving more and more from paper based records that were in the doctor’s offices to digital records stored on hard drives on computers. Many of these computers were also becoming connected to networks and to the internet by this time also. With these new technologies being mixed in with medical records that were previously locked in file cabinets it all of a sudden became much easier for a patients information to be transmitted out of the doctor’s office. (HIPAA Privacy Rule and Public Health, 2003) Of course, this was not a bad thing today we all depend on the ability of our records to be easily transmitted when needed from all sorts of agencies and

Medical records are also transmitted via email, as are insurance details. We do most of our business over the internet and email, medicine too. This can make people a little uncomfortable, knowing their information is out there somewhere floating around the ether. Even on a short trip, an email is copied at least a couple of times by each email server it transits. Someone with the access and ability could easily get that information and use it for their own gain, which is why HIPAA specifically mentions it.

The word “privacy” is often thrown around, but a deeper look into the word reveals that there is actually no universally accepted definition of the term (Nass, Levit, Gostin & Rule, 2009). Today, more than ever, confusion persists over what the word means, the value it holds, and its scope. This is because at a personal level, privacy holds a different and unique meaning to the individual. Healthcare organizations harness some of the most highly skilled competencies of any labor force, which equates to massive amounts of collaborating. Healthcare providers, administration, and others will share protected health information (PHI) with each other, as necessary, to carry out treatment plans, process payments, or any other operations necessary

The Privacy Principle supports statement 1. Which is significant to follow as a health administrator, because I believe that it is essential to uphold the patient’s confidence and trust in the organization. I will ensure that patient’s health records are held confidential and medical information is not publicly disclosed. I will not let a stranger or a third person know the patient’s condition or purpose of visit unless the patient has given consent. I will follow the HIPAA regulations and avoid any privacy violations.

Copying medical records or forwarding medical records without your patient’s consent are also ways to go against patient confidentiality. Any form of health care information including lab results, diagnosis, and prognosis, should not be shared with others without your patient’s consent.