1. HIPAA Confidentiality and Privacy

2. What is HIPAA? Health Insurance and Accountability Act of 1996 Enacted to improve the efficiency and efficacy of the healthcare system Title I of HIPPA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families Title II of HIPAA, the Administrative Simplification Provisions of the act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish national standards for electronic health care transactions, national identifiers for providers, health plans and employees, the security and privacy “individually identifiably health information” past present or future

3. Who is Covered by the Privacy Rule Hospitals Physician Offices Health Plans Employers Public Health Authorities Life Insurers Clearing Houses Billing Agencies Information System Vendors Service Organizations Universities Patients

4. Ensure Privacy of Patients Provide information to patients about their privacy rights and how their information may be used Adopt clear, enforceable privacy procedures Train employees to understand the privacy procedures Designate an individual to be responsible for seeing that the privacy procedures are adopted and followed Secure patient records containing individually identifiable health information so that they are not readily available to those who do not need them Comply with the minimum necessary information requirements.

5. Provider’s and Hospitals Responsibilities Ensure that patient information is not disclosed improperly Allow patients access to examine their records Allow patients to suggest changes to those records Educate patients on privacy policies (how their data will be used). Give patients the right to revoke permission to use data Notify patients of anyone who has seen their records Provide a formal complaint process for patients

6. Those who violates the privacy and confidentiality should pay some fine and or face jail time. Reference HIPAA (2011). How to Handle HIPAA. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from the website www.hipaa.org