The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) governs how medical information should be handled and issues requirements for all employers whose line of business involves the use, storage, transmission, or sending of health records. Employers who fall under HIPAA regulations have to take certain steps in order to ensure their compliance. Read below to find out what are the HIPAA training requirements for employers.

Privacy Requirements

Employers are required to provide staff members with HIPAA training that makes them aware of the current laws and regulation regarding the privacy of medical information. The training should inform employees what type of medical information requires authorization forms in order for it to be released, as well as health care data which does not require these forms. Some states have their own particular laws when it comes to health privacy and in this case, employers have to make sure that the HIPAA training also contains information about these specific state laws.

Following the description of what an authorization form is and how it should be used, HIPAA training should present the penalties and fees which are currently enforced for non-compliance.

Specific Training Requirements

Any new employee has to be instructed in HIPAA matters as soon as possible since the date they start work for the institution. In general, the period of time since they start until they are enrolled in a training program should not be longer than 60 days. The method of training chosen is entirely up to the employer.

Additionally, employers are required to provide employees with a renewed HIPAA training course any time a change in policy occurs. The employer should make sure that he has a written copy of the procedures taught during HIPAA training and he should distribute this copy to all employees, which they will be able to reference at any time.

Patient Authorization Requirements

All employers who fall under HIPAA regulations are required to provide their staff members with appropriate authorization forms which allow the disclosure of personal health information. These forms are standard for any institution covered by HIPAA, and include details such as the patient’s name, the organization’s name, the type of information that will be released, the purposes for which it will be released, who will be granted access to it, as well as any time constraints regarding how long the information is available for disclosure.

Privacy Notice Requirements

The employer is required to set in motion of series of privacy policies. Privacy policies then have to be open to public access. The employer is further obliged to make any patients with whom he comes into contact aware of the privacy policies, during the first interaction. The employer will have to show proof that he has made the patient aware of the policies, by making them sign a notice.

These are the main requirements any employer who handles medical information should adhere to. Following the pointers provided above is a necessary step in ensuring compliance and any health care employer should give them proper consideration.

For more information, please visit our hipaa training website.

For more information, please visit our hipaa training website http://web.sba.gov/cgi-bin/closeme.pl?TO=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hipaaexams.com

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Category: Education
Keywords: hipaa training