Looking at HIPAA and How It Works For You

Healthcare needs to be regulated. We give away a lot of private information when we go to a clinic or hospital. The HIPAA was introduced to protect us from unscrupulous businesses and institutions that may not have proper safeguards in place.
What is HIPAA?
Introduced in 1996, HIPAA is an acronym for the Health 1nsurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was enacted to improve the efficiency of the American healthcare system. It provided the first nationally recognizable regulations for the use and disclosure of an individual’s health information. Covered entities include health plans, healthcare clearinghouse and healthcare providers. These institutions have to follow these guidelines for the sake of their users:
1. Use of standard electronic transactions and data for administrative functions2. Standardization of medical codes that providers use to report their services to insurers3. They have to create specific identification numbers for employers and providers
The privacy rule that came into effect gives patients control over the use of their health information. It also defines boundaries for how this information is used by the abovementioned entities. Additionally, it establishes national-level standards that healthcare providers have to comply with.
On top of all this, it helps limit the use of PHI and lowers the risk of inappropriate disclosure. It also strictly investigates compliance-related issues and holds the violators accountable. Finally, it supports the cause of disclosing PHI without the individual’s consent for healthcare needs, national interests and public benefits.
Who is the Healthy Habits For Students HIPAA for?
As stated above, the HIPAA is used to protect anyone who uses healthcare or health insurance. It is also designed to protect health insurers, life insurers, doctors, hospitals, health service organizations and more. Employers who provide health insurance are also protected as well since data privacy is also one of their major concerns.
Additionally, billing agencies and information system vendors are covered by this act as well. Both of these entities need to be protected from inappropriate disclosure of data, which is why this is important to them as well.
How is the Security Enforced?
There are three ways that data confidentiality and security is ensured:
1. Administrative safeguards have policies and procedures that have been designed to clearly show how the entities will comply with the act. This includes appropriate ongoing training programs, adopting a written set of privacy procedures and contingency plans for responding to emergencies, among other things.
2. Physical safeguards are there to ensure that physical access is there to protect against inappropriate access to protected data. This includes introduction and removal of hardware and software from the network. The institutions have to ensure that their equipment containing confidential data are carefully monitored and controlled and that access is limited to authorized personnel only.
3. Technical safeguards are there to protect communications containing confidential data over open networks from being intercepted by anyone other than the intended recipient. The institutions have to ensure proper encryption and are required to use documented risk analysis and risk management programs.
Overall, the HIPAA is a great act that has been designed to ensure that the user’s data is well-protected and that How Does Chemotherapy Affect Healthy Cells it does not fall into the wrong hands. There are many safeguards in place to ensure that data leaks do not occur.