The Portability and Accountability Act in Health Insurance, better known as HIPAA, entered into force in 1996. HIPAA performs a variety of activities, including assisting employees with health insurance when they lose or change jobs. However, one of the most important aspects of HIPAA is privacy concerns ... and this affects everyone.
HIPAA - for the first time - created a set of privacy rules that define how, what, where, when and with which personal health information can be shared. In essence, HIPAA has established a set of guidelines to minimize the chance that your personal health information will be disclosed to someone who should not see it.
In recent years, tremendous changes have occurred in medicine, such as the ability of doctors to send X-rays to specialists for a second opinion in a matter of seconds. However, with these advances, personal health information has become more at risk of disclosing information. HIPAA has established federal protection for protected medical information (what is known as PHI) ... regardless of whether it is a physical document in a physician’s office or in an electronic HMO file.
Here are 5 important things to learn about HIPAA and privacy:
1. HIPAA protects your personal information.
Personally identifiable health information, such as a person’s name, important dates (date of birth, date of admission or discharge), telephone number, social security number, photographs, and even geographical identifiers such as city, postal code, or state, are protected.
2. HIPAA gives patients greater control over their personal information.
HIPAA gives patients some control over the use of their medical information and what can be used. HIPAA provides personal rights to patients, including: mandatory confidentiality notices, which explain how protected information will be used and shared, the ability to request protected information to apply to limited disclosure rules, and the right to check, copy or modify one, medical records
3. HIPAA does not affect the quality of care.
HIPAA was first implemented many years ago, and most people did not even notice. Many patients remember that they signed privacy notices at the doctor’s office, but in addition, the changes that occurred after the entry into force of the HIPAA privacy rules were mostly behind the scenes and had nothing to do with the delivery or quality of medical care.
4. Many organizations are required to comply with the HIPAA privacy policy.
In addition to the primary care physician of the patient, there is a wide range of companies and organizations that must exist in accordance with the rules of HIPAA, and they are called “covered objects”. These include: the majority of doctors, dentists and chiropractors, medical insurers Medicare and Medicaid and HMOs, health clinics, clinics, hospitals, the elderly, psychologists and pharmacies.
5. Many organizations are exceptions to HIPAA rules.
Many people do not know that there are organizations that may have access to personal health information that does not have to exist in HIPAA. These include: employers, insurers for life insurance and workers' compensation, government agencies, municipal institutions and school districts, including law enforcement agencies. Although most employers adhere to the recommendations of the HIPAA, it is important to understand that there are exceptions.
