The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has prescribed several guidelines to safeguard the personal information of the patients. These rules apply to covered entities like nursing homes, hospitals, pharmacies and insurance companies who have access to such sensitive data and have to transact it on a regular basis for different health insurance requirements.

HIPAA doesn’t specify any particular course for employees working in such organizations, but it puts the responsibility of providing the relevant training on the employers while leaving the manner of training completely up to them.

Following are some of the methods of training that an employer can apply so that the employees understand the HIPAA laws and its usage on the ground level.

– Educational Courses: An employer can choose to provide knowledge of HIPAA laws through a suitable educational course. Such classes will have a structured syllabus including the key areas of the law or may focus on a specific area, depending on the purpose of the training and the job responsibilities involved. The instruction may be conducted online or through an experienced instructor in a classroom-like setup.

– Computer Training: HIPAA has always encouraged the use of electronic means for management of data which not only brings a level of uniformity but also helps in reducing paperwork and administrative costs. Thus the use of computers with respect to HIPAA requirements is extremely essential. Training must be given so that the employees know how to store the data safely by using passwords and firewalls. The knowledge of standard transaction codes, identifier numbers and encryption is also a must when using various means of communications to pass on this sensitive data to certain bodies for the approved purposes.

– Continuing Training: HIPAA guidelines may undergo many minor to major modifications to keep up with the developments in health care and insurance. It is extremely vital that the employees be informed of any such changes to prevent any kind of violation of HIPAA laws due to the use of old techniques or outdated knowledge. Employers can facilitate a kind of continuous training with the help of internal documents like memos and regular newsletters to keep the employees abreast of any kind of changes.

– Training Games: Making use of various training games with groups of employees can be another effective method of providing HIPAA training. Role playing games will consist of enacting real life situations where the rest of the group can observe the ‘actors’ and look for any violations, and a useful feedback can be provided soon after. Games like treasure hunt will urge the employees to trace any breach in practices which will aid in noticing any irregularities when doing actual work. Yet another game like relay can test the employees’ knowledge gained from the training by having groups compete in a question and answer session.

If the covered entities wish to avoid any action on the grounds of HIPAA non-compliance then training their employees effectively is the only way to ensure that the assigned jobs are carried out within the purview of their relevant laws.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA training website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA training website http://www.hipaatrainings.com

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our HIPAA training website.

Category: Medical Business
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