How Is HIPAA Useful In Protecting Patient Information?

The privacy and confidentiality of patient information is protected by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that was passed as a federal law in 1996. All covered entities will need to adhere to the various rules and regulations of HIPAA.

There is an enforcement process in place by HIPAA and this handles all cases of violations. The penalties would vary depending on the nature and extent of the violation that has been committed. You would be surprised to know that most of the violations are unintentional and they mostly happen due to lack of awareness of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

5 Helpful Hints In Protecting Patient Information Using HIPAA

All communication with the patient will need to be safeguarded. The covered entities will need to have various policies in place to protect any kind of communication that a patient has with doctors, nurses, lab assistants and any individuals who will be part of the treatment process. Access to all information of patient should be restricted and only authorized individuals should be able to store, access and transmit information. The workplace should be kept where there is no easy access to it. The computer screens should also be turned away from public viewing. This will ensure that no one will look at the information that is displayed on the screens of your computer. All workstations should be password protected and this will ensure that any kind of misuse is prevented. If the patient information is kept as physical records, it will need to be kept locked. Access to places where the physical records are kept should also be restricted and this limits any misuse of such information. There should be regular training sessions held by the compliance officer appointed by covered entities. This will help in ensuring that all employees are aware of the various amendments and changes that take place in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The training should be a continuous process so that all risk factors are discussed and suitable remedies are suggested to help protect the confidential information of patients. If any physical medical records need to be destroyed, it is important that they are done properly to help prevent any misuse. It is advisable to use a shredder for this purpose so that all the confidential information is destroyed properly. Similarly if electronic information that is stored on computers and hard disks need to be destroyed, you will need to take enough safeguards to ensure that the files are deleted completely from the system.

All this simple measures will go a long way in ensuring that the protected information of patients is not misused or abused. If there are any violations even after following all the safeguards, you will need to take steps to correct the violation. The penalties for such violations are fines and imprisonment and this will vary depending on the nature and extent of the violation. There can be civil and criminal violations and the penalties will also vary due to this.