...Topic Paper #1: HIPAA - How the Security Rule Supports the Privacy Rule INTRODUCTION: HIPAA privacy rule: The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. The Rule also gives patients rights over their health information, including rights to examine and obtain a copy of their health records, and to request corrections. (HHS, 2003) HIPAA security rule: The HIPAA Security Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ electronic personal health information that is created, received, used, or maintained by a covered entity. The Security Rule requires appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronic protected health information. (HHS, 2003) Typically ePHI is stored in: • Computer hard drives • Magnetic tapes, disks, memory cards • Any kind of removable/transportable digital memory media • All transmission media used to exchange information such as the Internet, leased lines, dial-up, intranets, and private...
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...behind. Examples of some of the most influential and recent initiatives are HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)enforced in 1996 and ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and its revision HITECH(Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Act) of 2009 Each of these reforms have impacted the delivery of healthcare and therefore everyone in the U.S and especially with each reform new challenges, changes, benefits and/or problems for the HIM professionals and their roles and all they consist of. An HIM professional can work in many environments, including from home, private offices, doctors offices, nursing homes, hospitals and anywhere else that healthcare and/or PHI and/or EHR are handled. The HIM profession not only exists physically in numerous healthcare places but can work in numerous areas in the field such as medical billing and coding, a secretary, in any health area as a clerk, with many electronic systems such as HHS, MPI, HER, RIS and so many more and as the medical world changes so does the roles, jobs and duties of an HIM professional and thus putting a lot of pressure, responsibilities and issues that may arise from such things. HIPPA, the oldest of the newer reforms listed is an Federal law enacted to ensure the privacy of an individuals protected health information referred to as PHI, provide security for electronic and physical exchange of PHI and...
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...information that was not necessary. There are very specific rules for who and when it can be used, discussed, shared or disclosed. These rules are outlined in various Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Codington-Lacerte, 2014). HIPAA is a set of standards that are used across the nation in an attempt to protect personal health information (Summary, n.d.). HIPAA uses the term covered entities to include entities that would not need a release signed such as health care providers, health plans, and healthcare clearninghouses (Summary, n.d.). The basic assumptions with HIPAA is that all personal health information (PHI) is kept to only those who need to know and is not disclosed to anyone. The values and beliefs associated with this concept is simple in that the primary goal is to limit how and when PHI is released. To do this HIPAA policies include information regarding the minimum necessary requirement. The minimum necessary requirement is defined as steps taken to limit the PHI to the minimum necessary for the intended purpose (Minimum, n.d.). Opportunities and obstacles associated with a HIPAA policy include understanding what is covered under HIPAA and setting up safeguards to ensure the requirements are followed. HIPAA has great opportunities to help increase confidentiality and put a new focus on personal health information getting in the hands of those who do not need to know. The obstacles fall into play when looking at the many routes information...
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...Act, HIPAA. For the purpose of the exercise, this document will examine a typical visit to the doctor’s office. The focus will be to identify the various organizational, administrative, physical and technical safeguards that a doctor’s office should have in place to protect protected health information (PHI) as well as provide guidance in needed areas for compliance. In particular, the paper’s focus pinpoints the ePHI although all health information, written and oral should be addressed with HIPAA. The importance of protecting the confidentiality of patient information requires a synergy of effort from IT, management and staff. Purpose The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by Congress in 1996 and deals with security of healthcare information (HIPAA Administrative Simplification Statute and Rules, n.d.). The HIPAA regulations apply to health care providers who transmit any health information electronically, health plans (including Medicare and Medicaid programs), health care clearinghouses and healthcare business associates (Unknown, 2013). HIPAA defines a health care provider as a provider of medical or health services or any other person or organization who furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care in the normal course of business (Unknown, 2013). The intention is to protect the individual’s privacy and confidentiality throughout the gathering, transmitting and storing of healthcare information. The various components of HIPAA cover...
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...more prevalent healthcare information technology has played a “pivotal role in improving healthcare quality, cost, effectiveness, and efficiency,” (Srinivasan, 2013). However, the use of healthcare information technology has brought up concerns about privacy and protection of patient health information. In 1996, the Health Information Privacy and Accountability Act also known as HIPAA was passed. This was the first federal law regulating the privacy of health information. HIPAA was “designed primarily to modernize the flow of health information” (Solove, 2013). While at this time medical records were still in paper form, it was clear that health records would become digital in the future. (Solove, 2013). In the early years of HIPAA there was much confusion and no civil enforcement actions were taken. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a privacy regulation that was finalized in 2000. The Privacy Rule “governs personal health information, which is any ‘individually identifiable health information’ a broad definition including paper records.” (Solove, 2013). The HIPAA Security Rule, established in...
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...It is also known as the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act. HIPAA stands for The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. According to the HIPAA website www.hipaa.org, the website states ” The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act demands that all HIPAA covered businesses prevent unauthorized access to ‘Protected Health Information’ or PHI. PHI includes patients’ names, addresses, and all information pertaining to the patients’ health and payment records. “ HIPAA is directly focused on patient confidentiality, patient’s rights, and privacy in all regards of the patient care which emphasizes heavily on electronically transmitted PHI. As noted on Wikipedia, the maximum violation of the HIPAA privacy offenses committed with the intent to sell, transfer, or use individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage, personal gain or malicious harm is 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Ethics in Healthcare is not taken lightly by HIPAA and those who lack respect for them will face heavy consequences...
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...Regards to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Paul T. MacDonald University of Maryland University College DBST670 Fall 2013 Professor Jon McKeeby Abstract With the expansion of healthcare administration now further into more levels of federal and state governments, the amount of sensitive patient data has increased incrementally This data is moved from within and without of all stages of the healthcare process. From an office visit to the doctor, to the medications filled at the local pharmacy, to the bills handled by multiple insurance agencies, delicate patient information is being viewed, handled and passed along. The list of individuals who access the confidential information can include office staff, laboratory personnel, nurses, doctors, insurance agents, case managers and many more. The Health/Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was created to safeguard patients’ medical data security and privacy. HIPAA incorporates requirements that allow for a comprehensive review that will show anyone who has looked at confidential medical patient information. HIPAA is structured to provide a complete security access and auditing for Oracle database information. This framework designates data access points such as User Access Control, System Administration, Object Access and Data Changes that should be monitored and controlled. An accurate HIPAA compliant security execution assures all such access areas are plainly...
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...have been many cases of people personal photos and information being leaked to the public. With the healthcare industry following in the footsteps of so many others and now going to electronic file databases the threat of patient’s personal information being leaked is upon us. Therefore it is imperative that proper precautions are taken to ensure the security and safety of information that is shares from patients. Issues and its impact on the population Patient confidentiality is a major concern for healthcare professionals, without it many would not have anyone to care for. Patients have a right to feel they can trust their doctors, nurses or anyone they have to share personal information with. In the past prior to the current HIPAA laws patients information seems to be public knowledge. This lead many not to seek care when issues arose, only home remedies were used and many people were dying because of the lack of care. It also assures patients that are worried about being stigmatized for certain condition that there information will not be disclosed unless consent is given by the patient. I believe this concern is shared by many but more by our older generations that have lived during a time that patient confidentiality was not as prevalent. Now healthcare professions have to convince the older patients they can confide in them and that their personal history will not be shared with anyone without permission. Arguments or facts that are used in the article to...
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...The healthcare industry is considered a trillion-dollar industry, growing rapidly with technology and employing millions of healthcare workers in numerous fields. “On August 21, 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The primary goals of the act are to improve the portability and continuity of health-care coverage in group and individual markets; to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health-care insurance and health-care delivery;” (Ramutkowski & Pugh p.50) Being aware and familiar with the Health Insurance Portability Act not only benefits the patient but also protects the employee from falling into such a situation as this Nurse did. This paper will discuss the article’s issue and its effects, how the article uses current facts about healthcare and the issue addressed, the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues, and any proposed solutions. The article “Staff Nurse Faces Jail Time for HIPAA Violations” took place in 2008 years after the HIPAA law was enacted. “What had begun as routine file maintenance ended in arrest and possible jail time for a licensed practical nurse who shared medical information with her spouse.” (Latner p.1) Mrs. A had been employed at this physician’s office for over 4 years when the incident occurred. Her husband Mr. A was pending a lawsuit from a current auto accident which would put a strain on their family financially. Mrs. A (RN) decides to take measures...
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...HIPAA Confidentiality Rhonda Hogan HCR/220 Fonzette Mixon April 3, 2011 HIV and AIDS affect millions of people worldwide. Some of these people have HIV, only testing positive, whereas others already are diagnosed with AIDS. Still others who have not yet been diagnosed at all may be suffering inside and have no idea he or she is inflicted with this horrible disease. Confidentiality becomes more sensitive when interacting with HIV or AIDS patients. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the law that was enacted “in response to growing concerns about individual’s health information potentially being used inappropriately, causing barriers to health care coverage, and related job mobility impediments” (Biel-Cunningham, 2003). Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is exactly what it states, an immunodeficiency (HIV) turned syndrome that is acquired. In other words, AIDS is caused by and acquired from HIV. The virus enters the body, via blood, semen, or an infected mother during birth, whereby attaches onto T-cells while working to grow inside. After replicating and destroying the T-cell, the virus moves onto other healthy T-cells until they have been taken over. Once enough T-cells are destroyed, the person’s immune system no longer functions. When acquiring a serious infection, the body’s lack of fight for the infection is because of an extreme low T-cell count, and a diagnosis of AIDS will be determined. As far back as the Hippocratic...
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...ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS PAPER With all the crackdowns and enforcement of HIPAA there are not all that many violations in the news worth telling of. The article I found most interesting however was in HealthData Management. It told the story of how a pharmacy in Denver was recently fined for ignoring the standards HIPAA outlines with regard the proper way to dispose of PHI. 1 Historically speaking improper disposal of PHI, be it inadvertence, inconvenient or just plain negligence is the leading cause of improper or unauthorized disclosure of health information. Unauthorized disclosures have an impact on absolutely everyone involved. The patient whose information was released, the employee(s) who made the disclosure, the company the employee(s) work for and all of their peers. HIPAA spells out in no uncertain terms the proper way to dispose of records. We must as health care professionals abide by these laws to safeguard our patient’s personal information. We must ensure that 1.any information that relates to the past, present or future condition of our patient is absolutely destroyed. 2. Any information that could identify the patient in any way must also be destroyed. 3. All prescription pads, notebooks, cd’s x-rays or anything that can be used to hurt the business or your patient must all be destroyed. 2. Anyone whose information is improperly disclosed feels a sense of uncertainty, insecurity and a bit violated. They wonder what exactly was disclosed, who got their information...
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...the following people are assigned to help handle the challenges in this major transition: Support Coordinator, Public Relations team, and all Administrative Assistance. There are ten patients who require placement. According to KinderCare Nursing Home policies and procedures, we will first publicly announce our closing through emails, newsletters and as much network media as possible local and national. Some of our residents don’t have family locally, so we must contact family out of state if possible, we will do this by mailing out formal certified letters to all the families. Furthermore, some of the residents cannot give consent to release their PHI, in these cases, according to Ann Bachman (2008), the “Opportunity to Object” can be used, this HIPAA provision allows the covered entity to disclosed and discuss the residents PHI with “relative, other family member or a close personal friend of the individual, or any other person identified by the individual” to the extent that person needs the information for the individual’s care. Also if the individual is not present or is unable to agree...
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...Question: Since HIPAA requires Multi-Factor Authentication for users to access our networks remotely, what’s the difference between single channel Multi-Factor and dual channel Multi- Factor Authentication? Additionally, is there a cost difference between both? Answer: The use of multi-factor authentication to prove one’s identity is based on the premise that an unauthorized actor is unlikely to be able to supply the factors required for access. If, in an authentication attempt, at least one of the components is missing or supplied incorrectly, the user’s identity is not established with sufficient certainty and access to the asset (network, website or data) being protected by multifactor authentication then remains blocked. The authentication...
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...HIM141 Test 4 Chapters 8-10 Please completely answer the following questions. 1. What is the MPI and what types of information are contained in the MPI? MPI-master patient index, sometimes called a master person index, link a patient’s medical record number with common identification data elements, for example: patient’s complete name, date of birth, gender, mother’s maiden name and social security number. Because most health care facilities house patient records according to a medical record number, the MP becomes the key to locating paper based records in the health information department file system. Thus, the MPI is retained permanently because it serves as the key to finding the patients record, it can be automated or manual. According to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), some recommended core data elements for indexing and searching records include: * Internal patient Identification * Patient Name * DOB * DOB qualifier * Gender * Race * Ethnicity * Address * Alias/pervious name * SS# * Facility identification * Universal patient identifier (if available) * Account number * Admission date * Discharge date * Service type * Patient disposition 2. What are registers and indexes? Registers and registries contain information about a disease or event and are maintained by individual health care facilities, federal and state government agencies and private organizations...
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...Security Awareness Policy (statement 1) The Information Security (IS) team is responsible for promoting ongoing security awareness to all information system users. A Security Awareness program must exist to establish formal methods by which secure practices are communicated throughout the corporation. Security guidance must exist in the form of formal written policies and procedures that define the principles of secure information system use and the responsibility of users to follow them. Security awareness articles, posters, and bulletins should be periodically created and distributed throughout the corporation to educate employees about new and existing threats to security and how to cope with them. All employees are responsible for promptly reporting to their management and Information Systems (IS) management any suspected insecure conditions or security violations they encounter. All employees must be made aware of their security responsibilities on their first day of employment as part of the newhire orientation program. All employees must comply with IS security policies by signing a compliance agreement that is retained in their personnel file. IS Security policies and procedures must remain current and readily available (e.g., via the intranet site) for Information System users to review and understand them. Information Systems (IS) management must ensure that the terms and conditions of authorized system access are clearly communi...
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