HIPAA privacy policies are very important for companies and their
employees working for or with health care companies to have a firm
understanding on. HIPAA was a privacy law created in 1996 that ensured
the confidentiality and safety of patient health care information. HIPAA
privacy policies apply to all employees working with medical files or
any type of patient information. It doesn't just mean staff working in a
health care facility. It means anyone that can come into contact with
that information including medical billing, medical transcription,
hosting provider, lawyers, IT companies, etc. who are known as business
associate.
Covered entities and business associates are required to have necessary HIPAA privacy forms
to ensure that they meet the HIPAA rule requirement. It is recommended
that person working on these policies should first take the HIPAA
privacy training of Certified HIPAA privacy Expert (CHPE). This will
ensure that the person is trained before working on these policies. The
HIPAA privacy policy also covers patient rights regarding their own
information, uses and disclosures not requiring patient authorization,
special cases for restriction of uses and disclosures, and
organizational issues and safeguards.
Most people think that
if you are being HIPAA compliant then you have to get patient
authorization for every transaction you want to do. That is not the case
at all but there are rules that go along with it so creating and
following all of the HIPAA privacy policies would really help you out in
a situation similar to this one. As a health care provider with access
to patient medical files you will be required to share patient
information and transfer patient information on a daily basis. What the
HIPAA law is trying to do is make sure employees do it the correct way
that will not harm the patient in anyway.
There are many
release forms that patients must sign to keep companies free of
violating the HIPAA privacy policies and the template suite helps
employees fill them out and show when to use each release form for the
different situations you may find yourself in. Not only can you purchase
the HIPAA privacy policies templates and suite software but there are
so many different HIPAA template software’s’ that companies and
employees can purchase to make sure they know the HIPAA law and
regulations inside and out. The last thing a company wants to do is be
caught during an audit not being HIPAA compliant. They will face a huge
violation and the possibly the loss of the business. If patients find
out their information is not being taken securely they will pass the
word on and the company will lose patients. Patients want to feel safe
when giving their personal information to a health care provider and
they want to know nothing will be given to anyone without them knowing
about it. Companies should want to keep their reputations positive and
keep their employees up to date with all of the new HIPAA privacy
regulations and new HIPAA forms that need to be created.
Content Source: http://www.basearticles.com/Article/5988/How-To-Make-Sure-You-Are-Following-The-HIPAA-Privacy-Policies-Correctly.html
Levi Joseph writes HIPAA privacy training, HIPAA privacy policies, HIPAA privacy forms and HIPAA privacy certification.
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