The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has always stressed the importance of keeping any personal information of individuals absolutely confidential. It has several regulations in place to ensure that all the parties who have access to such sensitive information use it only under certain circumstances. Covered entities or employers like health care providers that comprise of hospitals and clinics, health insurance plans and insurance companies are required to follow all such rules for safeguarding data, and any breach is considered as a violation of HIPAA Laws.

The following factors will tell you what constitutes violation and the different ways it can be dealt with:

– HIPAA Compliance: As an employer, you have to know all the HIPAA requirements regarding safeguard of protected health information (PHI). Accordingly you must keep the data safe by storing physical files under lock and key and ensuring that all data on the computer is protected by passwords. Also access to such data must be provided to only those employees who need the information to discharge their duties; a log must be maintained to keep track of who has used the information. Such safeguarding measures must be continuously upgraded according to the requirements. In addition you must also know the situations when to disclose PHI and when to withhold such information. Remember that any use outside the provisions must be supported by permission from the client in writing. Any breach in storing, transacting and disclosing such information will constitute violation.

– Finding out Violations: A violation can be detected in two ways. First, a client may notice a breach and may complain to the office of Civil Rights (OCR) within 180 days of the violation. Second, a certain non-compliance may also be noticed when inspections are being conducted by the relevant authorities.

– Penalties: After OCR has finished its investigation it will establish whether a violation has taken place. Furthermore it also finds out whether such breach has been unintentional or deliberate. In case the violation is found to be purely unintentional then the authority will give you a period of thirty days to rectify the issue, if there is still no compliance then certain civil penalties may be imposed; the fines will of course be dependent on the seriousness of the breach. However willful violation attracts stricter action which may include criminal penalties in addition to fines, the monetary amount and term of imprisonment will again depend on the severity of the case.

– Preventing Violations: For complying with HIPAA Laws you must have an internal policy in place and adequately train all your employees about the various safeguards to be adopted and what is considered as a violation, and also how they can be avoided while performing day-to-day duties. In addition to all the policies and training you must have a monitoring system so that any such violation is detected quickly and the required action can be taken.

Remember that as an employer it is your duty to ensure HIPAA compliance by your organization and employees at all times.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA rule violations website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA rule violations website http://www.hipaaviolations.com

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Keywords: HIPAA Laws ,HIPAA Compliance,Health Insurance ,HIPAA Rule Violations