HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations apply to nearly all healthcare plans, as well as all healthcare information that is electronically transmitted by any healthcare provider. These transactions include claims, benefit eligibility inquiries, referral authorization requests, or other transactions for which HHS has established standards under the HIPAA Transactions Rule.
The HIPAA regulations encompass the set of standards created by the U.S. Congress to protect our patients' personal health information and to simplify the flow of information into the healthcare system. Individually identifiable health information is any and all information that relates to a patient's past, present or future physical or mental health or condition, the health care provided to the patient, or to any past, present, or future payments for the provision of health care to the individual, as well as any identifying information that identifies the individual, or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe that the information can be used to identify the individual.
Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers including name, address, birth date, and Social Security number.
The underlying principle of the HIPAA Privacy Rule regulations is to define and limit the circumstances in which a patient's protected health information may be used or disclosed. Any protected health information, including personal identification, medical and payment history, or current medical problems and treatments may be used or disclosed: (1) only as the Privacy Rule permits or requires, or (2) as the patient (or patient's legal representative) authorizes in writing.
Permitted disclosures without authorization include the following: (1) to the individual,
(2) for treatment, payment, or health care operations, (3) opportunity to agree or object, (4) incident related to a permitted use and disclosure (including accident victims who are unconscious), (5) Public interest and benefit activities, and (6) limited data set for the purposes of research, public health or health care operations.
Your Rights under HIPAA
Under the HIPAA, you have the following rights to:
Confidentiality of your identification, history, payment, and current health care information
Access all of your protected health care, personal history, and payment information
Copy, correct, and restrict access to your all of your protected healthcare information
File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if you feel that your protected health care information has been misused or that your confidentiality has been breached.
An accounting of how and to whom your protected health care information has been disclosed.
Please look for our Notice of Privacy Practices among the forms you receive from us. It assures you that we are serious about maintaining your confidentiality, and about meeting or exceeding the regulations required by the HIPAA. We also ask that you sign our form acknowledging that you have seen, read, and received a copy of the Notice of Privacy Practices.
Maintaining the privacy of all of your healthcare information and assuring your rights as a patient are very important to us. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA regulations, your rights, or the confidentiality of your information, please feel free to ask--we are always happy to answer them.
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