Preview

Hsm 230-Week 5 Assignment: Hhs Law Profile Paper Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1181 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hsm 230-Week 5 Assignment: Hhs Law Profile Paper Essay Example
Health Insurance Portability 1

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Name

University

Class

Professor

Date

Health Insurance Portability 2

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996 to protect the rights of individuals when receiving services from health organizations. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ensures privacy and confidentiality of individual’s health information. Health information could be protected on paper, oral communication, or electronically. If an individual’s privacy is violated in any way that individual has the option to file a complaint against the offending office.

The Office for Civil Rights assists individuals with complaints by investigating them. If necessary the Office for Civil Rights will impose a fine for violating the Privacy Rule Provision. Criminal violations of this law are referred to the United States Department of Justice for investigation and action (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2008).

The Privacy Rule imposes rules that healthcare workers must abide by to protect patient’s information. By doing this the Privacy Rule dictates how patient’s information could be handled in pharmacies, hospitals, and other healthcare industries. Patients have access to their medical records if copies are needed or if mistakes are found. There could be a monetary charge for copies but patients should receive copies within 30 days of the request.

If a medical provider requires sharing of the patient’s information; this request must be approved by the patient in writing. This notice is usually provided by the healthcare organization to the patient upon their first visit. This notice allows the patient to appoint any person whom he or she wishes to have access to their medical files. A patient could amend or omit information at any

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Privacy is covered under the HIPPA (Health insurance privacy portability act), which applies to medical doctors, dentists, psychologists, and pharmacists, to name a few. All covered entities must comply with rule requirements to protect the privacy and security of health information. State laws that are contrary to the privacy rule are preempted by federal requirements. There are exceptions related to: reporting of disease or injury, child abuse, birth, death, public health surveillance, investigation, or intervention. The ways exceptions are determined are related to fraud/abuse of healthcare, enforcement of health plans,…

    • 1262 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it comes to government agencies legal agencies, representatives, and research groups, covered entities may release protected health information only with a patient’s consent and they may release it without consent. Government agencies can release protected health information when the agencies are "required" to release the patients information by law and can release the patients information with or without the patients consent. For example "According to the University of Phoenix' They will "release information when they are required by law to do so such as for "law enforcement or national security purposes", "subpoenas" or other "court orders", "communicable disease reporting", "disaster relief", "review of our activities by government agencies", and if you "avert a serious threat to health or safety or in other kinds of emergencies". (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Confidentiality of Patient Records (2011)(PG1-5)Patient information can only be released without his or her consent if there was an "emergency", covered entities "could use and disclose protected health information without an individuals authorization for any of the following reasons "Oversight of the health care system", including "quality assurance activities",…

    • 585 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hipaa Privacy Rule

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Today, you have more reason than ever to care about the privacy of your medical information. They were once stored in locked file cabinets and on dusty shelves in the medical records department. Your doctor’s used to be the sole keeper of your physical and mental health information. With today's usage of electronic medical records software, information discussed in confidence with your doctor’s will be recorded into electronic data files. The obvious concern the potential for your records to be seen by hundreds of strangers who work in health care, the insurance industry, and a host of businesses associated with medical organizations. Fortunately, this catastrophic scenario will likely be avoided.…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives the patient’s rights to all information documented concerning them. Whether on paper or electronic, the patient have the rights to their medical records, get correction made if any mistakes are found, informed if the doctor use or give his/her information to anyone, to see where they contact you, and to complain if needed to OCR website www.hhs.gov/ocr.…

    • 391 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Consumer concerns have increased over the past few years because of the dramatic changes in health care information and its’ delivery (Benfield, Ashkanazi, Rozensky 2006). Each day patients put their physical health and trust in the hands of health care providers. Unfortunately, there have been times when the treatment provided, whether accidental or intentional, has caused harm to the patient. Patients who have experienced injury have the right to lodge a complaint against that provider. Included in the possible reasons for civil complaints is the sharing of personal information, negligence, or assault. These injuries are considered civil wrongs and are covered under Tort Law. In recent years, with the advances in technology, patient privacy has become imperative. In order to protect patient privacy the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was enacted, and is part of the Department of Health and Human Services, regulated by the Office of Civil Rights. Health care providers must take care to protect the privacy of their patients at all times. HIPAA regulations provide a guideline to help protect not only the patient, but also employees, from divulgence of their personal information to non-involved third parties.…

    • 1599 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Health Care Industry

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was passed by Congress in 1996. The HIPAA Privacy regulations require health care providers and organizations, as well as their business associates, develop and follow procedures that ensure the confidentiality and security of protected health information (PHI) when it is transferred, received, handled, or shared. This applies to all forms of PHI, including paper, oral, and electronic, etc. Furthermore, only the minimum health information necessary to conduct business is to be used or shared.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this paper, I will discuss the principles that permit disclosure of protected health information with or without the patient’s consent for each of the four categories, government agencies, legal agencies or representatives and research groups. I will also state whether I feel privacy safeguards are adequate to support those principles.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hipaa Violation

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the health care business, there are certain standards and laws that have been put in place to protect our patients and their personal health information. When a health care facility fails to protect their patient’s confidential information, the US Government may get involved and facilities may be forced to pay huge sums of money in fines, and risk damaging their reputation.…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1589 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though patients have the responsibility to provide their health care providers with the information necessary for their care, they have the right to confidentiality of any of such information from demographic data to sensitive personal information. Mehnke (2010) explains that there is the need to review policies on privacy and confidentiality to achieve optimal results. He further explains that, the day to day life of health workers from the common copy machine, to trash, to hallway conversation, discussion in elevators and cafeteria poses challenges to patient confidentiality. Also the pressure from friends and close family members of patients to know the progress of their loved ones which may or may not include disclosure of patient information is a major hurdle. Regardless of the challenges all what the patient expects from healthcare providers is for their right to privacy and confidentiality to be respected. This helps patient to seek help when needed and to freely discuss their problems with their care givers. It is the client’s expectation that that bond is never broken without their consent unless required by…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    patient privacy very seriously, and it is important to us that you are made fully aware of a…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hipaa Privacy Rule

    • 2356 Words
    • 10 Pages

    As part of the requirements under HIPAA 1996, regulated by the Office for Civil Rights under the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], federal guidelines must set a standard for the protection of individually identifiable health information (2003). These regulations and requirements are outlined under the Privacy Rule. Specifically, it addresses the use and disclosure of records and data by organizations subject to the privacy rule (aka covered entities), as well as outline the rights to knowledge and control over individuals’ medical information (HHS, 2003). The following is a discussion of particular aspects of the Privacy Rule as it relates to specified circumstances addressed.…

    • 2356 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Release of Information policies has had its ups and downs throughout the medical industry. The release of information falls on the reasonability of HIM professionals and alike. The fact is all involved parties such as: patients, lawyers, physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, patient family members, and most importantly the insurance companies. All play a role in making sure the release of patient information is being secured and being kept safe from prying eyes. Not only is that important it also needs to be accurate and reliable medical information. All of the above information is not only very important it also impacts the HIPAA privacy rule.…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), became law in 1996. It requires health care providers, insurance companies and others involved in health care transactions to provide security on any system containing personal health information, store and transmit that information according to standardized rules, and place an automatic audit on files to help keep track of who should have access to them and whether those access rules have been violated. HIPAA complaints and violations that aren't fixed quickly are subject to a fine of between $100 per incident or a maximum of $25,000 per year for violation of a specific rule.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A contract dispute between two businesses is very common. Litigations are handled in state courts or federal courts and during the arbitration. The disputes commonly involve intellectual property, privacy, ethics, and security. Many business to business contract disputes will include construction companies, real estate, Insurance claims, and in some cases they will include television stations. Upon reading an article with the famous TV show the Simpsons and the contract dispute with CBS, the show was almost canceled due to a contract dispute.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays