How Hipaa Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process
Running head: HOW HIPAA VIOLATIONS AFFECT THE MEDICAL BILLING
How HIPAA Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process
Brenda Beaver
Axia Of UOP
How HIPAA Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process HIPAA confidentiality is important for very patient but for some reasons when they hear someone has HIV or AIDS it gives them the right to talk about it with others which have no reason to know. I will show why it is so important to be sensitive to this type of health conditions. Will examine the social, legal, and ethical ramifications of improper information disclosure. HIPAA affects the billing process by making sure that patient demographics are accurate and kept confidential. There should be in the patient’s file an authorization to allow a practice to use the confidential information and to bill that patient information to carrier for services. Without this authorization on file the practice may not release or disclose any patient information regarding any treatment that this patient has had and therefore will not be able to seek reimbursement from the payer (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). A patients’ medical records, the progress notes, reports and other clinical materials are legal documents that belong to the provider who created them. But the provider cannot withhold the information in the records unless providing it would be detrimental to the patients’ health. This information belongs to the patient. Medical insurance specialist handles issues such as requests for information from patient records. They are trained to know what information can be released about patients’ conditions and treatments. What information can be legally shared with other providers and health plans and what information must the patient specifically authorize to be released (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). Because the claims are sent electronically, encryption is required for security, the process of encoding information in such a way that only the
How HIPAA Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process
Brenda Beaver
Axia Of UOP
How HIPAA Violations Affect the Medical Billing Process HIPAA confidentiality is important for very patient but for some reasons when they hear someone has HIV or AIDS it gives them the right to talk about it with others which have no reason to know. I will show why it is so important to be sensitive to this type of health conditions. Will examine the social, legal, and ethical ramifications of improper information disclosure. HIPAA affects the billing process by making sure that patient demographics are accurate and kept confidential. There should be in the patient’s file an authorization to allow a practice to use the confidential information and to bill that patient information to carrier for services. Without this authorization on file the practice may not release or disclose any patient information regarding any treatment that this patient has had and therefore will not be able to seek reimbursement from the payer (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). A patients’ medical records, the progress notes, reports and other clinical materials are legal documents that belong to the provider who created them. But the provider cannot withhold the information in the records unless providing it would be detrimental to the patients’ health. This information belongs to the patient. Medical insurance specialist handles issues such as requests for information from patient records. They are trained to know what information can be released about patients’ conditions and treatments. What information can be legally shared with other providers and health plans and what information must the patient specifically authorize to be released (Valerius, Bayes, Newby, & Seggern, 2008). Because the claims are sent electronically, encryption is required for security, the process of encoding information in such a way that only the