HIPAA Privacy Rule: Standards for Protecting Patients' Data - Essay Sample

Introduction

The HIPAA privacy rule, a federal law, is a set of standards by the HHS to protect patients' personal health records, especially when the transactions are done electronically (Assistance, 2003). Some mandatory rules are listed in the law, and some conditions are given where health information of a patient may be disclosed without the latter's authorization. Medical practitioners and all health providers are required by the law to be updated with the HIPAA rules to avoid violation and the consequences that follow after that. HIPAA was established in 1996, and the act provides national standards for confidentially and security of health information. HIPAA also contains the breaching notification rule from the HITECH Act that requires relevant authorities to be notified within sixty days after data leakages.

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Health Care Organization's Obligations to Meet Patients' Legal Rights

The HIPAA privacy rule requires that healthcare organizations healthcare must meet two obligations. First, the law requires that all personal health information of all patients must be protected and kept confidential at all times. Some HIPAA Privacy Rule violations are extremely common. For instance, employees may disclose patient information by gossiping about it with fellow workers; medical records may be mishandled, data may be breached if there are lost or stolen devices from the hospital, and texted cybercriminals might obtain patient information.

The other legal obligation described in the law is that it gives the patient the right to ask and obtain health information like medical records and corrections (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). According to the act, giving patients their medical records is essential since it aids them in decision-making regarding their well-being, for instance, they can monitor chronic illnesses in a better way. However, patients are only given a copy of their medical records if a covered entity covers the information. Some of the information that a patient can access includes medical images like x-rays, payment records, test results from the lab, and clinical case notes, among others (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003). However, there is information that a patient cannot be given, which include psychotherapy notes and information that will be used in a court of law. For access to private health information, several steps must be followed. First, a covered entity should forward a document in writing, requesting patient information. The second step is verifying the identity of the covered entity to ensure that the latter is authorized to receive personal health information.

Consequences for Non-Compliance

The general civil and criminal consequences for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule are fines or a jail term. The severity of the consequences depends on the extent to which the privacy rule is violated. While some cases receive lesser punishments, others require large amounts of money. Penalties range from $100 to $50,000 per violation per year (Ness, 2008). However, 1.5$ is the most considerable sum of money that any individual can be fined within a year for a crime committed involving infringement of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

Legal Obligation 1

Consequence

Failure to protect personal health information leads to penalties as stated by the HHS. The fines given depend on the level of the medical practitioner's negligence. There are three primary categories involving penalties. For a violation where the medical practitioner was not aware of the violation, the fine is between $100 and $50,000 (Ness, 2008). For a reasonable cause of the violation, the fine is between $1,000 and $50,000. For corrected willful neglect the amount paid is between $10,000 and $50,000, but if not fixed, a fine of $50,000 must be paid (Ness, 2008).

In 2017, a doctor in California was fired from his job due to various reasons. However, in the next few weeks, the doctor went through patient records in the hospital's health system, where he viewed information of high-profile patients. Although the doctor shared the information with no one, he was charged for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which is a federal offense. He was charged with four counts for accessing identifiable patient information. If he has shared the information, he would have been jailed for a long time. The doctor was put in prison for four months and was required to pay $2,000 as fine for the violation. Due to the doctor's negligence, his employer paid over $800,000 in all the civil fines involving the case.

Legal Obligation 2

Consequence

Under, under 45 CFR 164.524(c)(4), a patient has the right to be given some PHI (Ness, 2008). The consequence of denying a patient PHI is a fine (Appari, Johnson, & Anthony, 2009).

From personal experience, a particular doctor was charged with denying his patient personal health information because the covered entity had not received fees for the release of the document. However, the case was dismissed since the HIPAA privacy rule contains the conditions required for a patient to receive PHI. A covered entity is allowed to charge a reasonable amount of money to cater for labor, postage, and supplies for the document.

Health Service Organization Management Actions to meet Legal Obligations for Patients' Rights

One of the most effective actions that an organization should take to fulfill legal obligations for patient's rights is human resource training. Every organization must ensure that all managers, medical practitioners, and other employees are familiar with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. A healthcare organization should ensure that all materials and manuals involving the privacy rule are updated to prevent any potential violations from the staff (Appari et al., 2009). The primary purpose of training is to ensure that all the individuals with access to personal health information of patients are aware of the rules and consequences to be faced upon breaking them.

Secondly, healthcare organizations should install specific software in their computers to prevent information from being illegally accessed by cybercriminals through hacking. Hacking is one of the common ways through which breaching of patient information occurs, where malicious people use malware to access hospital computers. Healthcare organizations can either upgrade or replace their computer systems and devices and install software encryption.

Finally, a healthcare organization may encourage a security mindset across the firm. The HIPAA rules not only apply to EHR but also physical records; for instance, the information could be in writing or through a conversation over a mobile phone. An organizational culture of treating patient data securely should be implemented to reinforce PHI.

Conclusion

The HIPAA privacy rule, a federal law, is a set of standards by the HHS to protect patients' personal health records. The law requires that all personal health information of all patients must be protected and kept confidential at all times. Secondly, the patient the right to ask and obtain health information like medical records and corrections. The general civil and criminal consequences for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rule are fines or a jail term. Some practical actions that an organization should take to meet legal obligations for patient's rights include human resource training, developing an organizational culture, and protecting computer systems from being hacked.

References

Appari, A., Johnson, M. E., & Anthony, D. L. (2009). HIPAA compliance: an institutional theory perspective. AMCIS 2009 proceedings, 252.

Assistance, H. C. (2003). Summary of the HIPAA privacy rule.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2003). HIPAA privacy rule and public health. Guidance from CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services. MMWR: Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 52(Suppl. 1), 1-17.

Ness, R. B. (2008). Health Research and the HIPAA Privacy Rule-Reply. JAMA, 299(11), 1259. doi:10.1001/jama.299.11.1260-a