Healthcare

Vanessa Phillips

MOM 158 Computerized Billing

June 29, 2013

HIPAA Legislation: HIPAA Privacy Rule

The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects individually identifiable health information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule helps controls protection to individual’s information on a patient health and payment for health care received by a health care provider (Pub. L. 104-191). To release PHI for other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, an authorization must be signed by the patient. An authorization of this document must be in basic grammatical language; with an explanation of the information that is being used. Also to who can disclose it and for what purpose, who will receive it, an authorization date, and the patient’s signature. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued the Privacy Rule to implement the requirement of the HIPAA of 1996 (“Cyber Forensics; A Field Manual for Collecting, Examining, and Preserving Evidence of Computer Crimes, Second Edition; Albert J. Marcella and Doug Menendez, Auerbach Publications 2007”). The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individual’s health information-called “protected health information” by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule – called “covered entities,” as well as morals and values for an individuals’ privacy rights to recognize and handle how their health information is being used (DeVry University Online). Within HHS, the Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) has the duty to apply and carry out the Privacy Rule with respect to charitable activities and public monies penalties.

The Privacy Rule major goal is to guarantee that individual’s health information is appropriately protected while granting the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public’s health and well-being. Upon protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing; the Rule goes back to a balance that permits important uses of information....