The law which revolutionized the health care system of the United States of America, known as the Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), was passed on August 21, 1996. This act benefited the country by leaps and bounds in terms of excellent health security by categorizing the health plans systematically. The act was brought in to regulate the working of the healthcare bodies, maintain accountability of the healthcare providers and the insurance houses and protect the interests and the privacy of the patients.

The three things you need to know about HIPAA policy are listed as follows.

– Clauses governing the transactions, privacy and security clauses: Mainly, the Electronic Protected Health Information’s (EPHI) privacy and security is the task of the security professionals to maintain. This is what the act promises: the privacy and security of encoded health information which is not to be leaked or be made available outside the spheres allotted by the government as valid. Spread of delicate information which can be manipulated and which is important for the government’s policy making is one that is encoded within the act for protection.

The data networks have to be kept encrypted, there have to be enough locks and checks kept on the retrieval of information from the database and access should be limited to only those who deal in the transactions. It is a closed circuit of operations where only those who have knowledge of their field and are involved in the health sector are affected by the act. The individuals, who are directly involved in the pursuit of their own health can file claims and complaints depending on need.

– Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act: This act helps in regularizing the transfer of health information electronically. It also regularizes the disclosure of a patient’s health records to the health insurance company which is under trial for fraud in court or under any other circumstance initiated by the patient.

– Effects on research and clinical care: It involves regulating the patient’s medical health reports in case of drug trials. It is also applicable in child abuse cases. These clauses have been framed strategically, so as to keep information such as the spread of diseases, drugs etc. and statistical information only within its own functioning circuit of knowledge.

This policy is definitely bound to change the way the health insurance policies functioned in the past. It brings in a certain level of transparency and makes it easier for the policy’s benefiter to sue the fraudulent covered entity for any dissatisfaction with the service. There are courses that help train those who are dealing with the covered entities and those that are in compliance with the health sectors to brush up on their knowledge and gain ground in the categories they are from.

This will go a long way in ensuring that the policies enacted serve the purpose that they were brought into action for and can help solve the problems underlined by the government in the handling of the health sector.

For more information, please visit our hipaa privacy rule website.

For more information, please visit our hipaa privacy rule website http://www.hipaaprivacyrule.com

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our hipaa privacy rule website.

Category: Advice
Keywords: Protected Health Information ,Healthcare,health information ,Health Insurance ,HIPAA Privacy Rule ,