The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996 with the main goal of providing assistance to people by protecting their health insurance as they shift from one job to another. The Act ensures that the health care providers, health plans as well as health care clearinghouse abide by the guidelines in the act. The section of portability in the title ensures that workers do carry their health insurance when they move from one job to another. The other remaining parts specify standards for handling patient information from manual to electronic systems ( Assistance, 2013 ).
The name of the patient, photographs, telephone numbers and all other information that pertain the health of the patient and his or her payment records ought to be protected by this act. The act has also established limits and conditions on patient information use. Therefore, the act gives the patient the right to their information as well as the right to request corrections in case of errors. Due to technological advancements, HIPAA has greatly evolved to include numerous dynamic rules to safeguard patient privacy. This paper seeks to elaborate on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and how the act has played a role in safeguarding patient information and payment records.
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HIPAA rights
The HIPAA act comprises of numerous rights. One of the HIPAA right is the right to access. The right to access allows patients to access their information and obtain health information copies. The Restrictions right is the second patient right which gives the patient the right to restrict disclosure of certain health information. The Right to Amendment is another vital patient right that is in HIPAA. The Amendment right gives the patient the right to amend his or her health information. In addition to Amendment right, HIPAA also comprises of the Right to Accounting of Disclosures which ensures that the patient request on accounting of disclosure on the patient health information is made.
HIPAA also gives the patient the right to complain of privacy right violation. This right is the most important right in the HIPAA act. The right gives patients the right to complain if they feel that their health information has been disclosed or used inappropriately. Finally, HIPAA permits patients to know how their health information has been used or disclosed with regard to payment, treatment as well as health care information. It gives the patient the right to authorize the release of health or medical information or revoke authorization of the same information. The rights that are encompassed into the HIPAA act ensure that patients receive the right care with regard to health and how their medical or health records are stored.
Consequences of Breaching HIPAA
As much as these rights safeguard the health of patients, there are still numerous problems that can happen. The most significant problem with HIPAA is the breach. A breach is a process of accessing or disclosing health information of patients without their authority compromising with their information privacy. Patient information disclosure can ruin trust as well as the physician-patient relationship. The trust of the patient with regard to health will decline and the patient will be less likely to share his or her sensitive information or completely refuse to seek care. In some cases, if such information reaches unauthorized people, the patient may suffer various risks such as life threats.
Disclosure of patient sensitive information may result in discrimination, stigma, and embarrassment. Breaching of HIPAA rights is a violation of patient information that carries serious civil and criminal penalties under the law of the US ( Bradshaw and Hoover, 2015 ). The fines will not only be imposed on responsible individuals but also on health institutions. Apart from causing embarrassment, stigma, and discrimination, lack of privacy of patient’s information may affect important activities such as health research. People will agree to participate in health research if their information protection is guaranteed which improves information quality and initiatives for the research.
Any breach of information can bring detrimental effects in HIPAA. It is therefore imperative to practice effective preventive precautions to avoid such problems in the future. In health institutions, it is important to lock files to safeguard important papers. Secondly, the areas designated to store health information ought to be secured and only authorized individuals should be allowed to access to the area. The main goal of HIPAA is to ensure that every patient’s privacy is protected. Therefore, routine checks should be conducted by HIPAA officials in different health facilities to ensure that only authorized workers have access to patients’ medical records. It is important to take these precautions into consideration to minimize or prevent any complications pertaining HIPAA and patient information privacy.
Conclusively, it is evident that HIPAA plays a great role in safeguarding the health insurance of people, protecting their confidentiality as well as assist the healthcare sector in controlling the costs of administration. It is therefore imperative to outline effective procedures, guidelines, and policies to prevent future violations that may affect the patients involved and further prevent fines and penalties that may be imposed to a health institution in case of such situations. It is the responsibility of HIPAA to ensure that personal information about the health of the patient is safeguarded against improper disclosure. Professionals ought to be used when choosing systems to access, record as well as the transfer of electronic information from one place to another. In this regard, administrative information such as the name and addresses of patients ought to be obtained separately from other clinical information to avoid unintentional display of patient’s sensitive information.
References
Assistance, H. C. (2013). Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Bradshaw, M., & Hoover, B. K. (2015). Not So Hip-The Expanded Burdens on and Consequences to Law Firms as Business Associates under Hitech Modifications to HIPAA. Rich. JL & Pub. Int. , 13 , 313.
