All the healthcare organizations that deal with electronic patient data are required to comply with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) security rule. Other than healthcare organizations, health plans and clearing houses also come under the HIPAA rules. There are two rules under HIPAA, namely the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule.

The security rule aims to guard your health information from any violation. The HIPAA security rule enforces technical, physical and administrative safeguards to make sure that the healthcare facilities protect your confidential medical information at all times.

Here are the top 5 ways to ensure that HIPAA rules are complied with.

– HIPAA lays down certain guidelines that all health care providers must put into practice. This is to make sure that the entities comply completely with the security rule. The patient files that are electronically transferred are to be password protected and encrypted.

– All the workers of the health care organizations must be trained about the HIPAA security rule and its guidelines. Once they know what the security rule is, they will be better equipped to comply with its guidelines. Different levels of security will need to be implemented by employees at different levels of work.

– Different employees handle different patient information. Depending on this, the training course can be altered to suit the requirements of the employees. Adequate controls must be set in place to limit access to patient information. Health care facilities that have good controls in place will be able to protect your health information in a better way.

– All the healthcare facilities are required to maintain backup of all your health records. The computer systems that store all the patient information must be set to automatically create backup files at regular intervals. This is done to make sure your health information is always safe. The backup files need to be placed in a well guarded room where access is limited only to authorized personnel.

– Passwords are very important for safeguarding the patient medical records. Passwords should not be words that can be guessed easily. It is best if they are a combination of numbers, alphabets and special characters. Passwords must be changed regularly after a certain period of time. Only authorized employees must be given the password to patient data and they must be careful not to write it down carelessly or share it with unauthorized employees.

The physical medical records like paper records should be stored in a safe place preferably under lock and key. It is also essential that the healthcare organizations use the latest and best software and anti-virus available to ensure maximum protection of electronic patient data. Access to all these patient files whether paper or electronic, should be restricted.

Healthcare organizations that follow these guidelines of the HIPAA security rule will have lesser chances of misusing your health information. These days all patient medical records are maintained and transferred electronically; therefore it is mandatory that the healthcare organizations follow these guidelines strictly to ensure compliance to HIPAA standards.

To learn more, visit our website about your health issues today and bookmark it to share with others!

To learn more, visit our website http://www.hipaaexams.com about your health issues today and bookmark it to share with others!

Author Bio: To learn more, visit our website about your health issues today and bookmark it to share with others!

Category: Advice
Keywords: your health, HIPPA exams