A Guide to HIPAA Compliance in 2021 & Its Benefits

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) of 1996 is a set of regulations that govern the legal use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI).

The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) regulates HIPAA compliance, enforced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). If you work in the medical field, you're probably familiar with the terms "HIPAA" and "compliance.

They'll appear in the context of patient documentation, records, and other matters. HIPAA was also created to shield corporations from large-scale litigation that may ruin their operations.

HIPPA Compliance Benefits

It's a well-known method of safeguarding both your healthcare business and your patients and personnel. You may not realize why HIPAA compliance is so critical and how abiding by the law can help your company. In reality, embracing HIPAA compliance training and regulations can provide you with a slew of advantages. HIPAA is a federal statute that protects knowledge about oneself and others. Individuals' rights, rights of businesses and organizations, are protected by it. Another thing to keep in mind concerning HIPAA is it doesn't just apply to physical medical offices.

New laws have been put in the direction where effective primary care is given; professionals as telemedicine have grown in popularity, particularly during the COVID-19 epidemic. There's also a new procedure of regulations to follow to be mindful of when it comes to telemedicine and HIPAA compliance. HIPAA is a federal law that applies to a variety of healthcare organizations, not just telemedicine. HIPAA compliance is typically required by sickbay, oral surgery, medication, and other centers involved in the field of medicine. However, to secure the information of their clients, Entrepreneurs could require cultivating HIPAA compliance.

The health and well-being of your patients are directly related to the culture of your healthcare business. It's vital to the overall performance of your facility. Whether private or public, healthcare businesses may establish a significantly better patient-centric culture by adhering to and implementing HIPAA procedures. Protecting a patient's PHI, for example, aids in fall prevention, medication records and safety measures, and infection prevention and control.

When employees correctly follow HIPAA rules, they help lessen the risk of another team member making a mistake. They also help to protect the health and safety of patients by ensuring that their personal and medical records are kept private and secure at all times. Patients aren't the only ones who benefit from HIPAA.

Following HIPAA laws provides a higher level of safety for your corporation and its leaders. Another way HIPAA protects your employees is that government rules require it. When dealing with a HIPAA lawsuit or investigation, just having the proper training protects you and your employees.

HIPAA Laws and Rules Proposed Amendments in 2021

The suggested adjustments are intended to promote the idea of "value-based care." Under this approach, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) tries to eliminate restrictions that obstruct innovation and care coordination. The following are some of the proposed amendments:

HIPAA Privacy Rule

The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides national standards to secure individuals' medical records and other personal health information. It applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers who undertake certain electronic health care transactions.

The Rule establishes sufficient measures to protect the privacy of personal health information and limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures of such information that may be made without patient consent. Under the rule, patients have rights to their health information, including the ability to see and obtain a copy of their information, as well as the capacity to request corrections.

HIPAA Security Rule

The HIPAA Security Rule requires physicians to protect their patients' electronically stored data that is kept private by implementing administrative, physical, and technical protections to maintain the information's confidentiality, integrity, and security.

The Security Rule, in essence, regularizes the Privacy Rule's protections by addressing the technical & non-technical safeguards that covered companies must adopt to secure ePHI.

HIPAA Breach Notification Rule

HIPAA's Breach Notification Rule mandates that occur today report patients when their individual health information is compromised (PHI) is misused, leaked, or "breached" in a way that endangers the data security of PHI. Only if the data controller can show that there is a "low chance" that the PHI has been accessed, unauthorized exploitation or publication of PHI is deemed a breach.

According to the breadth and scale of the occurrence, the Rule provides different breach reporting standards. Irrespective of the largeness of the breach, all breaches must be reported to HHS OCR; however, the reporting mechanisms differ depending on the type of breach.

HIPAA Omnibus Rule

The HIPAA Omnibus Rule is an addition to the enacted HIPAA Act; it must be implemented to both registered firms and business affiliates. Business associates must be HIPAA compliant, according to the HIPAA Omnibus Rule, which also lays out the rules for contracts with Business Partners. In addition, the businesses should work to better grasp HIPAA rules to be aware of their risks and responsibilities to their patients.

However, HIPAA is based on the idea that people should have ownership over their personal health information. HIPAA contains many exceptions that allow medical care to be provided to patients without dealing with excessive paperwork. HIPAA allows for extensive exceptions for research access to records. However, these exceptions nevertheless make many forms of study considerably more difficult or impossible.

There are also major exclusions to HIPAA for public health investigations, as detailed in the Public Health section. HIPAA would provide patients with certain additional privacy protections as well as more power over their patient records. HIPAA established laws requiring healthcare institutions to regulate who has access to health data, limiting who can view health information and who can distribute that information. HIPAA ensures that any information given to healthcare providers and health plans is kept private.