Your organization`s HIPAA compliance strategy depends on your knowledge, understanding, and updating of the latest HIPAA rules. This ensures that your HIPAA training and documentation protocols are error-free and meet the standards described. If you`re unsure whether your organization is subject to HIPAA compliance guidelines, you should visit our HIPAA Explained page or seek professional legal advice on what HIPAA compliance means for your organization. You can also visit our HIPAA History page for more information on the context of HIPAA compliance guidelines. Prior to HIPAA, there were no generally accepted security standards or general requirements for protecting health information in healthcare. At the same time, new technologies have emerged and the health care industry has begun to move away from paper-based processes and rely more on the use of electronic information systems to pay claims, answer questions about entitlements, provide health information, and perform a variety of other administrative and clinical functions. HIPAA training is therefore an essential part of compliance. Proper training ensures that all staff are up to date, which is necessary to ensure the confidentiality and security of patient information. The most important thing to know about HIPAA is that ignoring HIPAA requirements is not a defense against enforcement action.

So, if you`re a HIPAA-covered entity or business partner and you have access to protected health information, you need to understand what the rules are, how they apply to you, and what you need to do to become HIPAA compliant. Nevertheless, a fine may be the least burdensome if you violate HIPAA rules. A HIPAA Corrective Action Plan (CAP) can cost your business even more. HIPAA laws and regulations are five specific rules that your entire team needs to know. Read on for a detailed overview of each rule and how it should be enforced. Health Plan With few exceptions, an individual or group plan that provides or pays for the cost of medical care (as defined in PHS Section 2791(a)(2), 42 U.S.C. 300gg-91(a)(2)). In particular, the law covers many types of government organizations and programs as health care plans. Health Information Clearing-House A public or private entity, including a billing service, a rating corporation, a municipal health management information system or a municipal health information system, and value-added networks and meters, that contain either health information received from another entity in a non-standard format, non-standard data content, process it or facilitate the processing of standard data elements or a standard transaction; or receive a standard transaction from another entity and process or facilitate the processing of health information in a non-standard data format or content for the receiving entity. Health Care Provider A service provider (as defined in Section 1861(u) of the Act, 42 U.S.C.

1395x(u)), a provider of medical or health care services (as defined in Section 1861(s) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)) and any other person or entity that provides, bills, or is paid for health care in the ordinary course of business. health care, services or supplies related to a person`s health, including (1) preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, regressive, maintenance or palliative care, and advice, services, assessments or procedures relating to a person`s physical, mental or functional condition that affect the structure or function of the body; and (2) sell or distribute any drug, device, equipment or other prescription item. The steps you need to take to comply with HIPAA depend on the nature of your organization and your access to protected health information. HHS publishes several tools that allow covered entities to determine what steps need to be taken to comply with HIPAA. However, if you are still unsure of the requirements, you should seek advice from a compliance professional. The HIPAA Breach Reporting Rule requires organizations that determine a PHI violation to report the incident. Depending on the number of patients affected by the breach, reporting obligations differ. Violations affecting 500 or more patients must be reported to HHS OCR, affected patients, and the media. These large-scale breaches must be reported within 60 days of discovery.

In addition, if a violation affects 500 or more patients, it will be publicly posted in the OCR violation portal. HIPAA rules require healthcare providers to control access to patient information. For example, your organization can provide multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication is a great place to start if you want to ensure that only authorized personnel have access to patient records. Before the trading partner has access to the PIS, it must sign a trading partner agreement with the covered entity specifying which PHI it can access, how it wishes to use it, and that it will be returned or destroyed once the task for which it is needed is completed.