The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability of Act demands that all HIPAA covered businesses prevent unauthorized access to “Protected Health Information” or PHI. PHI includes patients’ names, addresses, and all information pertaining to the patients’ health and payment records. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “HIPAA Rules apply to covered entities and business associates.” Complete compliance with HIPAA guidelines requires implementation of basic and advanced security measures. Basic security includes benchmark-based password creation and use, personnel education and training, limited access to PHI, data encryption, use of firewalls, antivirus software, and digital signatures. With increasing adoption of electronic medical records and cloud-based software-as-service (SaaS), advanced security measures are…
Tag: HITECH Act
The Reality of HIPAA Violations and Enforcement
Who is ultimately responsible for enforcement of HIPAA and what types of penalties are levied when a covered entity or business associate is found to be non-compliant with the regulations? Many healthcare offices and their staff don’t know the answer to this question; they have only a vague notion about the enforcement and the consequences of not adhering to the law. The real HIPAA enforcement agency is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Complaints are filed with the OCR, and they are responsible for administering, investigating and enforcing the HIPAA privacy standards. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) enforce the code…
Five Steps to HIPAA Security Compliance
The health insurance portability and accountability act has set various guidelines, which should be adhered to by anyone who handles any electronic medical data. These guidelines stipulate that all medical practices must ensure that all necessary measures are in place while saving, accessing and sharing any electronic medical data to keep patient data secure . Lack of compliance to the HIPAA security standards could lead to large fines and in extreme cases even loss of medical licenses. Several steps can be followed by medical practices to ensure compliance to HIPAA standards. These steps include: Run a complete risk assessment of the medical practice Some medical practices adopted electronic health recording…
Dentists: Don’t Forget HIPAA Compliance
Since the inception of HIPAA in 1996, its broad implications have affected all areas of health care including dentistry. And, if asked, most dentists and their staff would say they know what the HIPAA regulations are, and yes, they have been trained, but are they really up to date with HIPAA’s ever expanding changes and compliance requirements? Are they trained in the areas of HIPAA Security, Privacy, Enforcement and Breach Notification Rules and do they know that they must be in compliance with the 2013 HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule by September 23, 2013? Compared to the ever-growing size of medical practices today, most dental offices are still rather small with…
HHS Publishes Technical Corrections to January 25, 2013, HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules
June 7, 2013. Today, HHS published in the Federal Register “Technical Corrections to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules” that were published on January 25, 2013, as the Final Rule: “Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules.” According to the “Summary“ in today’s Corrections Final Rule: “These technical corrections address certain inadvertent errors and omissions in the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules that are located at 45 CFR parts 160 and 164. The effective date of the Corrections Final…
HIPAA Final Rule: Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected Health Information: Provision of Notice (2)
March 25, 2013. Today, we continue going through the HIPAA Privacy Rule, section by section, as modified in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. We began a two-day examination of the modifications pertaining to 45 CFR 164.520: Notice of Privacy Practices for Protected…
HIPAA Final Rule: More on Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information of Decedents
Today, we continue going through the HIPAA Privacy Rule, section by section, as modified in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. Our focus yesterday was on the modified rule: 45 CFR 164.502(f): Standard: Deceased individuals. Today, we finish up with a related modified…
HIPAA Final Rule: Enforcement by State Attorneys General
February 26, 2013. Today, we examine the HIPAA Rules enforcement role established by the HITECH Act for State attorneys general as modified in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. As of February 18, 2009, Section 13410(e) of the HITECH Act granted State attorneys…
HIPAA Final Rule: Enforcement–Factors for Determining Civil Money Penalties for HIPAA Violations
February 25, 2013. Today, we examine factors considered in determining the amount of a civil money penalty for a HIPAA violation that are modified in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) identified “five general factors”…
HIPAA Final Rule: Enforcement: Four Penalty Tiers
February 21, 2013. Today, we examine the four penalty tiers for violations of HIPAA Rules in the Final Rule: Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act [HITECH Act] and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; Other Modifications of the HIPAA Rules, which was published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2013. The effective date of the Final Rule is March 26, 2013, and covered entities and business associates must comply by September 23, 2013. We start with two definitions, the first of which, Reasonable cause, was modified in the Final Rule, and the second of…