If you’re in the medical field, most likely you’ve heard a co-worker, your boss or even a patient mention the “HIPAA laws”. So what exactly is it??
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules
Enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HIPAA is a set of rules that each “covered entity” must follow, and if you have personal health information you qualify as a covered entity.
These rules were created to protect the privacy and personal information of patients in the health care industry. It set standards: administrative, physical and technical safeguards, that must be met.
Failure to meet these rules can result in hefty penalties – sometimes into the millions of dollars.
The HIPAA security rules are an add-on to the HIPAA rules, that establishes a level of protection for electronic health information
For a complete list of the HIPAA rules and it’s solutions click here: (HIPAA Checklist)
For a complete list of the HIPAA security rule click here: (HIPAA Security Rule Checklist)
Visit US Dept of HHS for more details.
