HIPAA Privacy Effects on Patients

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, made major changes to the way information was handled in the healthcare setting. Before HIPAA, it was feared that private patient records were not kept as securely as they could have been, The purpose of HIPAA was to make positive that everyone, including those who’s faces, appeared within the public eye to one‘s school teacher, medical records were safe from exposure to those who do not have “need to know.

” Before HIPAA, releasing a patient’s medical records unprofessionally was not heavily thought about by health care workers. Patient information could have been discussed with a mixed company or outside of work, perhaps releasing private information regarding a patient to the wrong ears. HIPPA was brought about to put an end to the unprofessional sharing of private patient information as well as to put safeguards up when discussing information, such as talking quietly.

Upon the enforcement of HIPAA, healthcare facilities were urged to hire Privacy Officers or someone who was familiar with and who would enforce the violations of HIPAA, in their offices.

There are a few major parts of HIPAA that health care facilities were to take into account, including the way patient information is handled and submitted as well as how the facilities ensure the security and privacy of a patient’s information Patient Information In order to ensure all patient information was understandable and consistent between facilities, HIPAA put into place code systems that were to define specific diagnoses and procedures.

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Facilities were no longer permitted to use their own codes. This universally used code greatly assisted in simplifying patient information when it was transferred between facilities.

These codes are also effective in keeping Protected Health Information (PHI), or any information that could possibly identify a patient, private. It may include anything from the name of a patient to their address to their social security number, In order to comply with HIPAA, facilities were expected to designate a Public information officer whose role would be to explain to patients their privacy rights as well as Lake and resolve complaints. Patients were to be allowed easier access to their own records but to guarantee their PHI did not fall into the wrong hands, health care workers are not permitted to release information to a patient who cannot verify their identification This includes patients requesting release of information over the phone or through fax.

HIPAA was made to be understood in that not all measures taken by health care facilities could be perfect, and so required “reasonable safeguards” to be put in place regarding patient PHII These safeguards were very simple, easy to execute, and required a good amount of common sense, Health care workers were to speak quietly when discussing patient information while also avoiding using identifying names. Furthermore, files containing PHI were to be kept in locked areas and all electronic information was to require logins and passwords, HIPAA was a huge step forward in protecting the privacy of patients. Its set of rules are so simple that they could even be considered common sense. Healthcare workers that are not compliant with HIPAA’s rules can be sanctioned, and patients can rest assured that the information shared between themselves and their physician remains with only those who have “need to know.”