Technology has finally found its way into the medical and health insurance sector as well. Computers and the Internet arecommon place now. Yes, this technology growth definitely makes life easier for employees but there is another side to the coin as the chances of misuse also increase. Misuse of your health information, data theft and identity theft are some violations that can take place. To face this challenge, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996. This act lays down certain guidelines that health care providers and insurance agencies must comply with. HIPAA also gives you the right over your health records.

All covered entities must ensure that their employees undergo HIPAA training. As patients have more control over their health information and insurance coverage these days, this is a serious issue for health care providers. Any violation in the HIPAA rules will result in severe punishments.

Six ways to prevent violations of HIPAA rules are as follows:

– Re-evaluating the procedures and policies of HIPAA laws relate to your private information. The policies state that you have complete control over who accesses your health records.

– Health care providers must appoint a person to be in-charge of reviewing the policies and procedures relating to patients. It is advisable to discuss all the privacy policies with this person and keep him or her updated on client information. All HIPAA policies must be evaluated by the insurance agencies along with personal client health information.

– Security is also essential to avoid any chance of misuse of sensitive information. The health care providers must employ an officer to take care of the security systems. The officer’s responsibility is to then send regular updates to the patients. All computer systems must be password protected.

– All health care workers must be educated and trained about the HIPAA rules and regulations. Regular training courses must be conducted to keep them up to date with the newest guidelines. The trainers must go through all the rules, regulations and laws given by HIPAA and then convey all that knowledge to the employees. If this is not done properly, the insurance agencies and health care providers can be dragged to court for not understanding the policies.

– Any companies, business professionals and individuals involved will be asked to sign a document agreeing to do all they can to reduce risk of misuse of health records.

– The health care providers need to ensure that any doubt, query or request from you must be addressed immediately. Usually there is a time limit of one month or thirty days, within which all queries and requests must be dealt with.

Once these HIPAA rules are put in place in all hospitals, the patients will benefit greatly. For this, the various covered entities must make sure that in no way are these guidelines violated. In-hospital training, regular reviewing, analysis, safety measures and continuous good communication with patients can enable all health care providers to greatly reduce the chances of misuse. So take care to review the above and learn more about HIPAA.

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Category: Medicines and Remedies
Keywords: Health care,HIPAA,. Medicare and Medicaid, HMO’s,health insurance agencies, clinics, doctors.