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ok here is my final project for my paper, in APA format. Can someone please tell me what they think and if it would be up to passing standards? Thanks.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has established a set of required national standards that protects and allows patients control over their medical records. With that in mind, HIPAA does affect the ways patients can access their medical records. Patients should be able to see or obtain their own records and request any corrections as needed for their files. The patient should ask their doctor in writing for a request of their medical record. This way the patient has a record of the request and any important information such as the day of the request by the patient. It usually takes about thirty days to receive the copy of the record (Health, 2003). In some cases, the first copy is free, depending on if they are being picked up in person. Patients may be charged fees for additional copies because the staff is taking time to process all information to be gathered and mailed to the patient. Therefore, because of HIPAA, patients have more access and control over their medical records (Health, 2003).
According to HIPAA, patients’ personal health information (PHI) is confidential and cannot be used or disclosed without proper authorization (Health, 2003). However, there are some circumstances that allow the health information to be disclosed that is unrelated to healthcare. These circumstances would be 1) Required by law 2) Public health activities 3) Victims of abuse, neglect or domestic 4) Health oversight activities 5) Judicial and administrative proceedings 6) Law enforcement 7) Decedents 8) Cadaveric organ, eye, or tissue donation 9) Research 10) Serious threat to health or safety 11) Essential government functions 12) Workers compensation 13) Risk of death of harm to oneself. These are the only circumstances that would allow their medical records or PHI to be obtained without their authorization (Health, 2003).
There needs to be certain requirements for covered entities to have written privacy policies. HIPPA requires that covered entities supply to the individual a written notice that should include the following:” the individuals rights and how they implement his or hers rights regarding the public health information, all the legal duties of the covered entity, description of disclosures allowed by HIPAA, description of the different types of allowed uses to disclose the PHI, including the disclosures that are required to be disclosed without the written consent or authorization of the individual, it should also include a separate statement for some PHI such as appointment reminders, different treatment options, and other services that maybe of interest to the individual” (Sullivan, 2005).
To be in compliance with the HIPPA laws, every employee needs to have training with all the procedures and policies with HIPAA to understand the confidentiality for all patients. The staff must be trained as soon as the training information is available. Usually a set date is imposed. If there has been any new changes involving the information, staff must be updated and trained within a reasonable time. There needs to be at least one person in charge of the training, usually a Privacy Officer from the human resources department. They are the ones that are responsible for making the training dates and keeping all documents of all who attends and completes the trainings (Health, 2003). If someone happens to violate the privacy policy, there can be fines and penalties of jail time. “The law can establish fines up to $100 for each civil violation and up to 10 years in jail” (Stein, 2006).
References
Health and Human Services. Apr 3, 2003
Stein, Rob. “Medical Privacy Laws Nets No Fines”. The Washington Post. June 2006
A1. June 21, 2009.
Sullivan, June M. HIPAA A Practical Guide to the Privacy and Security of Health Data.
New York, American Bar Association (2005). Pp. 7-8. June 21, 2009
2 answers
Which of the following types of examination is limited to