The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) stipulates that all employers who provide group insurance plans to their employees will need to follow the various rules and regulations of the Act. HIPAA which was passed as a federal act in 1996 aims to provide health insurance coverage to employees and their families even when they lose their jobs.

There are legal implications for non compliance of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The penalties can be quite stringent and would depend on the extent and nature of the violation. The repeated offenders may even lose their right to conduct business.

Top 6 HIPAA Compliance Rules For Employers

1. The employer must take all possible measures to safeguard the electronic and physical files that contain the protected information of employees so that they are not misused. Access to the computer systems and physical files should be restricted and only people who are authorized to access it should be able to do so. The physical files should be locked and stored in a secure place. If the files need to be accessed for any purpose, it is important that necessary permission from the employee is taken.

2. Although it is assumed that only employers of covered entities will need to comply with the various provisions of HIPAA, it is necessary that all employers will need to do so. The various records of employees that need to be safeguarded include health plan enrollment forms, records of workplace injuries, any physicals that have ordered by the company periodically and any other record that contains the confidential medical information of the employee.

3. When a health coverage plan is provided by an organization to its employees it needs to send a notice to the participants of the plan detailing the various security and privacy practices that are followed. If there are any changes and updates made to the plan, it is necessary that such changes are brought to the notice of the employees.

4. All employees who will have access to the protected information will need to be properly trained about the various provisions of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This will ensure that all the rules and regulations of HIPAA are complied with and there are no intentional violations.

5. It is the responsibility of the employer to make the training course or program available to the employees. Any updates and modifications that are made to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act should also be discussed with employees so that they are aware about it and comply with the new requirements.

6. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act does not permit any employer to discriminate against its employees due to any pre-existing condition. The employee and their families cannot be denied medical coverage due to any pre-existing condition or if they had developed health problems.

These compliance rules of HIPAA will need to be followed by all employers and this will ensure that quality health care coverage is provided to all employees and their families.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-training.html

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website.

Category: Medical Business
Keywords: health care organizations ,HIPAA,Health Insurance ,HIPAA Compliant