HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a law that was first enforced in 1996. It manages the sharing, storage, and use of patient’s sensitive health information. The HIPAA laws are applicable to any organization that handles health information of patients. The employees of these organizations are provided with guidelines through HIPAA trainings sessions. You will benefit greatly by getting a HIPPA certification. There are various training organizations that provide basic HIPAA certification courses. A classic certification course will include Privacy and Security certificates, HIPAA awareness and other additional certificates depending on the training organization.

There are four basic steps you can follow to get HIPAA certification.

– Do a good search for training organizations that provide HIPAA certification. Choose the most reputed and best one. Next you have to choose the training level you need. The awareness certificate will provide you with a basic knowledge of HIPAA and the privacy and security certifications will give you a more detailed training on handling and storage of patient data and records. There are additional transaction and security certifications, which are applicable only for those employees who handle electronic patient records, as they deal with medical coding and encryption of protected patient information.

– Make sure you attend all the training classes. Certain training organizations only provide classroom sessions, while others offer online training. Sometimes training maybe conducted by your work organization in your workplace if there is a large group to be trained.

– At the end of the course, the training vendor conducts a certification test, which you must take. Only on passing this test will you be given your course completion certificate. For basic training programs there may not be a test. You are required to renew your certification once the validity period expires. This time period varies with different courses and organizations.

– The U.S Department of Health and Health and Human Services has a website where there are regular updates available regarding any modifications and additions to the HIPAA Act. It is good to visit this site regularly to ensure compliance with the latest HIPAA rules and regulations. With changes happening so fast today because of the changing needs, it is very important to be up to date with the times if you want to be at the top of your game.

Although, the internet is a great medium to learn all about HIPAA free of cost, it is good to get a formal training if possible. Companies prefer it as it makes it easier for them to train their employees. These training programs vary in terms of cost, but a little research is sure to get you a good deal.

You must understand that the government does not lay down any standards for specific certification types and levels. Hence the types and levels of HIPAA certifications are solely dependent on the training vendors. HIPAA training may not be compulsory, but HIPAA awareness definitely is. All organizations dealing with protected health information encourage their employees to sign awareness forms which are documented along with the employee records.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Certification website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Certification website http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-certification.asp

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Category: Education
Keywords: HIPAA Certification