All Entries Tagged With: "HIPAA"
Alert patients to HIPAA violations, says new regulation
All hospital workers—including MSPs and medical staff professionals—need to adhere to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines. The government recently updated these guidelines to require healthcare providers to notify patients if their health information was breached.
Medical staffs should update their polices as needed to reflect these changes.
According to a press release: “The regulations, developed by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), require health care providers and other HIPAA covered entities to promptly notify affected individuals of a breach, as well as the HHS Secretary and the media in cases where a breach affects more than 500 individuals. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals will be reported to the HHS Secretary on an annual basis. The regulations also require business associates of covered entities to notify the covered entity of breaches at or by the business associate.”
HIPAA Privacy Rule – Fact or Fiction
After five years there is still confusion about the implications of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule. There are a number of common myths out there even despite clarifications that have been provided to the public and to healthcare providers.
Some common questions include:
- Can a doctor communicate with a patient via email?
- Is it permissible for a spouse to pick up your filled prescription?
- Are hospitals no longer permitted to share patient directory information with the public?
- Can a patient sue a health care provider for non-compliance with HIPAA?
- What happens if a patient refuses to sign an acknowledgment statement?