What Are The Various HIPAA Regulations For Employers

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have certain specific regulations for employers as to how they need to handle medical records and information pertaining to their employees. There are also rules pertaining to the use of electronic medical information and how the medical privacy of their staff needs to be protected. All the regulations that have been specified by HIPAA have to be followed by employers to make them compliant to the Act.
What Are The 6 Requirements That Employers Must Follow To Be HIPAA Compliant
1. Appointment of a designated privacy officer – A privacy officer must be designated by the employer. He/she would be responsible for understanding all the policies and procedures of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Healthy Lifestyle Tips For Students Act. The person who is so designated must be aware of the procedures regarding the implementation and compliance of HIPAA. There is no certification requirement for the designation of the privacy officer.
2. Employees who have access to the information need to be identified – Not all employees in an organization will have access to the confidential medical information pertaining to patients. Employees who have access to such information need to be identified and trained in the policies and regulations of the Act. They should be able to access this information only under certain specific circumstances and this need to be identified too.
3. Education courses or training programs – There should an educational course or training program for the employees so that they are able to understand all the provisions of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The training program must be on an ongoing basis. Although certification is not required, the organization can have a certification requirement for employees who have access to protected health information (PHI).
4. Documentation of usage – The protected health information that is used should be documented by the employers. Any employee who uses this information must document the reasons or purpose of accessing Interviewing A Therapist it. If any employee does not document this information they would be penalized for this act. There are various established access rules that need to be followed and non-compliance should be punished.
5. Creation of forms and written notice – Employers would need to create several forms for reports that are accessed by employees. Apart from this forms can also be created for authorization of access to this information. Written notice must also be provided by the employers as to why the protected health information is accessed and how it is to be used.
6. Security procedures – The employers would need to develop several security procedures so that the confidential information of patients is protected and any unauthorized access is stopped. The employer that must also ensure that medical information pertaining to his employees is kept separate from other files so that easy access is not possible.
If the regulations of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act are not followed or complied with there can many fines and penalties that may be imposed on the employer and organizations that they represent.