The Health Information Portability Account Act (HIPAA) details legislation of policy reform for safe healthcare standards. The minimal requirements should not be misconstrued as legal advice, please consult legal counsel to obtain a legal opinion. For reference, we have provided the following.

Quick Overview

Congress enacted HIPAA in 1996, designing initiatives and policy’s to standardize the framework for healthcare transaction, while upholding patient rights to privacy. In order to achieve HIPAA compliance, healthcare providers implement new organizational and technological changes. HIPAA certification standards vary from independent and group settings.

The Policy for Administrative Simplification provision of HIPAA divides into four parts: Electronic Transaction Standards, Unique Identifiers, Security, and Privacy. The policy defines several major sections: compliance with electronic transactions, national identifiers, patient privacy, and data encryption security. All healthcare organizations internally or externally transmitting electronic health information must ensure safety.

Transaction Standards

HIPAA transactions & Code Rules mandate ANSI X12 transaction format. The policy specifies standards for claim acknowledgements ICD-9, HCPCS, CPT, NCPDP, and CDT. Generating compliant claim transactions with the required ICD-9, HCPCS, and CPT code sets standardize full cycle claim processing and judification management.

Unique Identifiers

The Unique Identifiers Rule labels unique identifiers to providers, health plans, employers, and patients. Currently we’re monitoring the policy as it is under review, finalization is still pending. Once determined, the proper application support for standard identifiers will be available

Data Security

Effective April 2005, HIPAA mandates a uniform protection shield to all health information paper/electronic as patient-identifiable. Security specifications require administrative procedures to physically safeguard all electronic procedures of Protecting Health Information (PHI) against unauthorized retrieval. HIPAA Certification promotes reliable efficiency to encrypting, storing, processing electronic data to guidelines effective April 15, 2008.

Secure Data Transfer

Data encryption allows secure login access. The proper user-authentication access protects patient file records with Automatic Timed Logout, ID Theft, User Identification, and Privacy Standards: The Security Permissions include requirements to prevent unauthorized access to patient information; users logging historical data are recorded in time stamp logs.

Privacy

Other provisions in The Private Policy Standards, HIPAA address access to sensitive and personal identifiable health information. These standards specify the patient notification process; requiring how conditions under patient health discloses information, tracking the privacy notifications with healthcare level permissions to access information, and audit trails to track patient information.

Once information reveals a patient’s identity is added, the document becomes effectively electronically stamped and stored for electronic transmit. Dedicated servers add benefit to privately securing encrypted data, and help enforce the proactive secure approach.