The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have very strict security compliance provisions that help safeguard protected information of patients. The HIPAA security rules have to be complied by all covered entities that have been specified as per the Act.

Covered Entities That Are Specified To Comply With HIPAA Security Rule

– Health care service providers include clinics, hospitals, laboratories, nursing facilities, physicians, pharmacies and any other entity that provides health care services to patients.

– Individual or group plans that provide and pay for the medical cost would also need to comply with the security rules of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

– There are various entities that facilitate the process of processing the data into electronic format and these are known as health care clearing houses and they would also need to comply with the rules.

– Apart from this any individual or organization that performs any task on behalf of the above mentioned entities would also have to be HIPAA compliant.

As all the information related to patients is captured and stored electronically it is important that the covered entities strictly adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in safeguarding and protecting the confidential information of patients.

What Are The Policies That Need To Be Created For Safeguarding Protected Information Of Patients

– Access to the protected information should be restricted and only authorized individuals should be able to gain access to it.

– Computers and other electronic equipment that contain all the valuable and confidential information of patients should be kept in a safe place. It is also advisable to keep computers in such a way that no one would be able to see the information on your screen.

– You would need to protect your computer and relevant files with strong passwords. It would be best if you keep changing the passwords at regular intervals so that easy access is prevented.

– Whenever any individual who has been accessing the files and other protected information leaves the job, it would be advisable to change the passwords immediately so that they are not able to access the programs from outside the organization.

– All the storage devices that are used to store the protected information should be accounted for and there should be a log that specified who accessed the file on a particular day.

– If there is any confidential information available on papers, it would be stored electronically and the papers should be shredded so that no one can misuse the information.

– All the employees must be trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act so that they are able to adhere to the security rules specified therein.

The policies and procedures that are created to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act should be monitored regularly and any changes that have been made to the Act should also be reflected in the in the new policies that need to be framed. A compliance plan should be established and you must ensure that it is implemented by all the employees who will have access to the protected information of the patient.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA website.

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Category: Medical Business
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