HIPAA Compliance Solutions

HIPAA, officially designated as Public Law 104-191, has two main objectives:

(1)  guarantee continuous health insurance coverage for individuals encountering job transitions or losses.

(2) standardize electronic transmissions of administrative and financial transactions within the healthcare industry to streamline healthcare expenses

The HIPAA Privacy Rule, known as “Privacy Standards for Personal Health Info,” is a significant step in protecting patients’ health data. It’s established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure the secure handling of sensitive patient health information, respecting patient privacy. Doctors are required to share a list of entities accessing a patient’s health data while maintaining the flow of essential health information.

The Privacy Rule grants patients access to their health data upon request, empowering them to control their information. It applies to HIPAA-covered entities, including healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. These entities must safeguard individually identifiable health information held in any format.

Protected health information (PHI) includes personal details like names, addresses, birthdates, and health records. Employment and education records under FERPA and de identified data are exceptions.

Examples of PHI are medical records, laboratory reports, and hospital bills. Information collected by consumer health devices, like smartwatches, not shared with covered entities, isn’t considered PHI.