What You Should Know About HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA is a dreaded word by many business and healthcare providers. It can appear to be a symbol of government red-tape that seemingly gets in the way. But HIPAA doesn’t have to be complicated. There are websites that can assist with HIPAA compliance training such as HIPAAtraining.net that can cover a great deal of information for employers and employees. But most people don’t need an in-depth training session about HIPAA in order to comply. A simple HIPAA online training over-view of some basic concepts can help employees avoid HIPAA violations.

1.      Who is forced to comply with HIPAA

a.       Health Plans, Health Care Providers, Health Care Clearinghouses, and any business associates that work with any health care providers are mandated to comply with HIPAA

2.      What is protected

a.       All past, present, and future physical or mental health care conditions of an individual are protected from public knowledge by HIPAA

b.      All provisions of a person’s health care plan are protected under HIPAA

c.       All past, present, and future payments of any health care related issues are protected under HIPAA

d.      Any identifiable information of a patient is protected from becoming public knowledge under HIPAA

3.      Permitted usage of information under HIPAA

a.       A patient can give permission to allow a person to share treatment, payment, and healthcare operations 

b.      In an emergency, professional opinion must be used. So in an emergency, most times employees should not give out information.

c.       This rule can only be broken for public interest or safety. Still, it would be best to encourage employees not to share any information about a patient.

Compliance to HIPAA really isn’t too difficult. Referring to patients by code names such as room number can help prevent identifiable information from being shared, ensuring that sensitive material only be discussed behind closed doors, and using the minimal amount of information about people will prevent most HIPAA violations. For more specific questions about HIPAA, there is HIPAA training online and HIPAA compliance training easily available to people.

But what about a HIPAA Audit?  Seems scary, right? But there is nothing to worry about! HIPAA Audits are simply to ensure compliance and better ensure that the best practices are used to prevent violations of the law. When an audit happens, everyone in a business and all business associates are eligible for audit. HIPAA audits will usually occur onsite and in person. But as long as companies strive to secure patient information, there really is nothing to worry about.

HIPAA compliance training for managers and high ranking positions from places like HIPAAtraining.net will help keep healthcare providers and business safe from violations. Most employees don’t need an extensive training course to know how to avoid infractions of the law. Managers can easily set up coding and safety systems to prevent private information from being shared. HIPAA may seem scary, but it really isn’t anything to stress over. While the law may be dense and complex, compliance of it is simple if it is done the right way the first time. Start with HIPAA online training to train your compliance staff. There is never a need to worry!