HIPAA is a US law that governs health insurance coverage and patient privacy. Part 2 of the law covers patient rights in administrative, physical, and technical categories. Failure to comply with HIPAA can result in criminal and civil penalties, including fines and imprisonment.
In 1996, the United States Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which includes provisions on health care and insurance. Part 1 of HIPAA addresses health insurance coverage, while Part 2 governs patient privacy. Part 2 of the HIPAA Act brought about major changes in the administration of health care in the United States and changed the way patient records are managed. Healthcare professionals or others who fail to comply with any of these laws are guilty of a violation of HIPAA, which carries both criminal and civil penalties.
Part 2 of the HIPAA Act covers three basic tenants of patient rights, divided into administrative, physical, and technical categories. The Administrative Rights section requires all healthcare organizations to designate a single individual to handle patient privacy and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations. This category also includes employee training, interactions with third parties who may view patient data, and policies for handling a security breach. Businesses that fail to designate an individual to manage HIPAA requirements may be guilty of a HIPAA violation and could be subject to penalties. Any failure to implement the required administrative policies could be a further violation of HIPAA.
In terms of physical requirements, healthcare organizations must provide secure locks for all patient files in order to avoid a potential HIPAA violation. Organizations must keep these files away from the public and ensure that access is granted only on an as-needed basis. For example, an employee who engages in browsing through files that he or she does not need to see in order to do his or her job could be guilty of a HIPAA violation. This category also requires organizations to securely dispose of files when they are no longer needed.
To avoid a technical violation of HIPAA, organizations must encrypt all computer files related to patient records. Each must require a password for access, and only employees who need access should be notified of the password. In some cases, each employee must be assigned a unique password so that regulatory officials can determine who has accessed specific files.
Penalties for a violation of HIPAA cover both intentional and unintentional violations, including those caused by simple abandonment. Civil penalties can be as high as 1.5 million US dollars (USD) in just one year. Each basic violation could result in criminal fines of up to $25,000 USD, and willful misuse of documents carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years. Penalties can be even higher for multiple violations within a specified period.
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