What Are 3 Major Things Addressed In The HIPAA Law?

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Executive Summary – Major Things Addressed In The HIPAA Law

The primary focus of this blog is to thoroughly explain the three areas of HIPAA compliance, what it entails, and the essential requirements of HIPAA rules in healthcare. It also goes into great detail on why you must abide by its laws and regulations, the key components of its authorization, and other matters besides the 3 primary parts of HIPAA law.

Overview – Major Things Addressed In The HIPAA Law

There has been a surge in healthcare investment with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the stats, around $9.2 billion and $14.2 billion were invested in the US, domestically and globally, respectively. This is due to increased vaccine distribution, mental health services, and personalized care demand.

According to the HIPAA Journal, cybersecurity attacks have grown by 45% globally (March). IT professionals are under pressure to limit attacks and enhance threat detection, hence the need for compliance with HIPAA security rules. So, let us walk you through the three primary parts of HIPAA law!

Is Compliance With The HIPAA Security Rule Necessary?

The healthcare providers and additional entities deal with a wide range of functions, namely:

1. PHI
2. Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) 
3. EHR
4. Laboratory systems
5. Radiology
6. Pharmacy systems

Every operation involves transmitting or using sensitive information, which has increased the need for HIPAA compliance. Various health plans provide access to self-service and care management apps to improve mobility and efficiency. Simultaneously, security systems are being put in place to enhance the privacy protection of healthcare information.

Security systems also improve the efficiency and quality of patient care. The three primary parts of HIPAA help ensure the flexible design of The Security Rule, allowing different technologies, policies, and procedures to be implemented according to the patient’s risk, the structure of the organization, and the e-PHI of the consumers.

What are the 3 Common HIPAA Violations?

What Are The 3 Rules Of HIPAA Security Compliance?

HIPAA security compliance rules cover administrative, technical, and physical security. It requires healthcare providers to protect information against security threats and prevent the disclosure of patient information. Collectively, the rules ensure the integrity and confidentiality of ePHI. 

1st Key Element of HIPAA Law: Administrative Requirements

The administrative requirements of HIPAA play a significant role in making sure that patient data is safely accessible. The set guidelines help healthcare organizations formalize their privacy processes through written documentation. By establishing clear policies and procedures, healthcare setups can effectively manage the handling of Protected Health Information (PHI), ensuring compliance with legal standards.

Other aspects include: 

• Allocating personnel or a staff member to oversee HIPAA compliance and data security.
• Identify employees who will have access to patient information and data.
• Training the employees regarding privacy policy and the implementation of this policy.
• Third-party members must sign contracts to comply with HIPAA security rules.
• Backing up the data and creating the emergency plan.
• Performing the annual security assessment of data.
• Creating the response plan for data breaches.

2nd Key Element of HIPAA Law: Physical Security Requirements

The physical security requirements allow healthcare organizations to prevent device loss and physical theft (particularly for patient information). The physical security requirements of HIPAA Law include the following:

• Limited access to computers for securing the desks and keeping information safe from the general public.
• Restricting access to secure areas with proper sign-in for visitors.
• Practicing caution and following the best security practices for disposing of the software and hardware, including wiping the hard drive.
• Training the contractors and employees on safety practices. 

3rd Key Element of HIPAA Law: Technical Security Requirements

Different aspects of technical security requirements and creating a medical app from data breaches are as follows: 

• Encrypting sensitive files and ensuring that cloud-based platforms use encryption.
• Protecting the healthcare network from hackers with prevention systems and firewalls.
• Training the employees to avoid phishing scams after proper identification.
• Backing up the data in case of changes and deletion.
• Authenticating data transfers to third parties by demanding a password.
• Requiring employees to change their passwords regularly, containing a combination of characters, numbers, and letters.
• Preventing mistakes in data entry through double-keying and redundancy technologies.
• Ensuring documentation updates on networks and technologies.

What Are The Three Primary Parts of HIPAA Authorization?

The primary function of HIPAA authorization is to improve patient security and safety. HIPAA’s privacy rule is a federal law requiring healthcare facilities to protect patient health data. They need to make sure that the information isn’t disclosed without the knowledge or consent of the patients. As far as the 3 primary parts of HIPAA are concerned they are as follows:

• Administrative Security – This is the first component of three parts of HIPAA, and it controls the security personnel, security management, and information access management, evaluation of security systems, and management and training of the workforce
• Physical Security – The physical security component controls the facility’s control and access and is about restricting access to patients or their data. In addition, workstation and device security are also covered in physical security, which puts restrictions on the physical devices and administers the disposal of these devices.
• Technical Security – This component covers the audit controls, integrity controls, access controls, and transmission security to ensure every technical component is safe from threats and breaching

The Difference Between HL7 and HIPAA Compliance?

HL7 is generally used for electronic health record solutions and is a combination of international standards. These standards provide information regarding data sharing and transfer between different healthcare providers. On the other hand, HIPAA is a federal law designed to protect patients’ sensitive and confidential information and ensure that it isn’t disclosed unless patients are made aware of it and provide consent.

Healthcare Data Breaches: Fewer Incidents, Millions at Risk

These statistics are sourced from: https://www.softwarereviews.com/

What Are The Four Main Purposes of HIPAA?

The important three rules of HIPAA Privacy set limitations on when, with whom, and under what conditions protected health information might be exchanged. It also governs the permitted uses and disclosures of such information. The key objective of the HIPAA Privacy Rule is to give patients on-demand access to their health data. 

The four critical areas of HIPAA compliance are:

• Protecting the privacy of health information 
• Security of electronic health records
• Simplifying administrative tasks and insurance portability
• Providing detailed instructions for handling and protecting patient’s personal health information.

Which of the Following is One of The Three Primary Parts of HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is a significant piece of legislation that impacts the healthcare sector. It was first introduced in 1996 and created to assist workers with obtaining health insurance coverage between employment. 

Among the three primary parts of HIPAA, healthcare businesses also need safeguards to protect patient data against healthcare fraud. However, regulations changed over time and finally became more concerned with safeguarding patient data privacy. HIPAA is best recognized today for safeguarding the confidentiality of patient data through the proper application of the required security criteria specified in the law. Implementing the HIPAA Security Rules, Privacy Rules, Breach Notification Rules, and Omnibus Rules would fall under this category.

The three phases of the HIPAA compliance process were limiting access, disclosure, protecting Patient Health Information (PHI), and notifying the appropriate authorities and anyone impacted by a data breach. The major purpose of this is to guarantee that data, both in physical and electronic form, is properly protected and regulated and that an auditable trail of PHI activity is kept. HIPAA’s main goal is to increase the effectiveness, security, and privacy of PHI data in the healthcare sector.

How To Protect Patient Data With Cyber Liability Insurance?

Cyber liability insurance covers third-party liabilities for individuals at federal and state levels. It focuses on penalties and ensures that individuals are legally obligated. Moreover, cyber liability insurance also covers defense costs that arise from data and security breaches involving personal information. The policy is meant to facilitate reasonable costs for notifying the affected organizations and individuals. This benefits social workers since it provides extensive data coverage for security and privacy legislation. 

As for healthcare workers, some states and federal governments demand that they have this insurance in case of hacks and breaches to protect sensitive information. 

HIPAA Privacy Rule Fact Sheet 2024

The Privacy Rule’s primary objective is to safeguard each patient’s health information appropriately. This enables the smooth flow of information required to deliver high-quality healthcare and safeguards the well-being of the general population.

Here are the patient privacy rules of HIPAA:

Healthcare Professionals

No matter the size, all healthcare providers electronically communicate health information, such as benefit eligibility, insurance claims, requests, referrals and authorizations, or other activities. All “providers of service” are considered “health care providers.”

Business Partners

People can access protected health information, including individuals or organizations whose duties or services entail using or disclosing protected health information. When a covered business or hybrid entity hires an employee to undertake services or activities that might include using or accessing personally identifiable information, the Privacy Rule mandates the execution of a “Business Associate Agreement.”

Health Care Plans

Consists of multi-employer health plans, government- and church-sponsored health plans, and employer-sponsored health plans.

Adaptive Entities

An organization that performs HIPAA-covered and non-covered services is referred to as a “hybrid entity.”   The organization’s HIPAA-covered operations are sometimes called its “health care components.”

Summary Of The HIPAA Privacy Rule

Society has become reliant on medical information for performing basic functions and making individual-based decisions. However, some cyber developments have threatened the security of healthcare information and have become concerning.

Medical Privacy Laws

Healthcare information is managed by different state, local, and federal statutes and case laws. However, before the HIPAA privacy rule, the federal rules didn’t address the security of information that’s maintained and collected by different healthcare entities. There was no comprehensive federal law that could protect the confidentiality of patient records. In addition, there was a lack of uniformity in healthcare information confidentiality.

Different states practiced different medical record laws. These variations became critical in the disclosure, maintenance, and collection of healthcare information transmitted through digital platforms. The privacy rule of HIPAA provides more stringent and uniform state laws.

HIPAA

Fast forward to HIPAA Compliant Healthcare Solutions. Different medical records confidentiality bills have been launched in the last ten years. These bills were aimed at improving the portability of health insurance coverage. In particular, section 262 directs the HHS to standardize the electronic information exchange. It also develops the standards for implicating information security. Secondly, section 264 demanded that HHS answer Congress on standards regarding privacy rights.

The December 2000 Privacy Rule

This was the final privacy regulation published on 28 December 2000. It was first made effective on 26 February 2001 but changed on 14 April 2001, while rule enforcement was initiated in 2003. However, some small health plans waited until 2004 to implement the laws. This medical privacy rule prohibited entities from disclosing protected information and data related to healthcare to third parties. Still, there was an exception to release the information if disclosure was permitted.

The August 2002 Privacy Rule

The privacy rule was reopened by the Bush administration where various points were targeted for clarity purposes. These points included the use for treatment, payment, treatment disclosure, authorization and consent of procedures, healthcare operations, parental access to the health information of minors, privacy practices for notices, and oral communication. After this, the Bush administration proposed the modification in March 2002.

Folio3 Digital Health – The Leading Provider of HIPAA-compliant Software Solutions 

Folio3 digital Health provides HIPAA-compliant software solutions that streamline operations, improve patient care, and drive efficiency within your healthcare organization. Our expertise lies in developing and implementing tailored software solutions to satisfy your needs, ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are The 3 Rules of HIPAA?

Three guidelines are set forth by the HIPAA to safeguard patient health information, namely:

• Privacy Regulation 
• Security Regulation
• The rule requiring breach notification

These three guidelines create the national standard for privacy procedures regarding health information that might be used to identify a person.

What Is The Key to HIPAA Compliance?

HIPAA mandates that protections be put in place to preserve PHI’s privacy, accuracy, and availability. Administrative, physical, and technical safeguards need to be put into place.

The Most Common HIPAA Violations You Should Be Aware Of

The common HIPAA violations that healthcare organizations should be aware of include the following:

• Keeping the records without security
• Data without encryption
• Hacking
• Device loss and thefts
• Lack of training for employees
• Sharing of PHI
• Improper record disposal
• Unauthorized information release

What is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act?

This is the federal law that demands the development of national standards for protecting patients’ healthcare information. It ensures the prevention of information disclosure without patients’ consent.

List Four Areas of HIPAA That are Important to Patients

When it comes down to HIPAA, four areas are extremely important to patients:

1. The security of health information
2. Privacy of health data
3. The right to collect copies of healthcare data
4. Notification about medical record breaching

What Is The Prime Function of HL7 Standards?

HL7 standards were designed to allow advanced tool integration for transferring critical healthcare data and information. This integration is highly likely to improve the efficiency of healthcare facilities while reducing the chances of errors.

Is the HL7 System Designed With Tech Standards?

Yes, the HL7 system can support technological advancements in healthcare. For this reason, multiple hospitals have started using open-source HL7 integration engines.

Are HL7 Standards Compliant With HIPAA Law?

Healthcare providers must ensure that HL7 standards are implemented according to HIPAA laws. If they do so, hospital workflow will be streamlined, and EHRs will show improved performance.

Is HL7 Futuristic?

Yes, HL7 will play a prominent role in the future healthcare system and be widely used in healthcare software integration.

What is the Cost of Telemedicine Equipment?

The cost of telemedicine equipment varies from clinic to clinic. On-sight equipment can cost $10,000 or higher, or a few hundred dollars per month per user.

While considering the costs, ask your vendor if the medical device’s UX design will be added to the costs. Keep in mind that UX design will directly influence the functionality and effectiveness of telemedicine.

What Are The Three Rules of HIPAA Used?

The three rules of HIPAA are basically three components of the security rule. HIPAA 3 rules are designed to keep patient information safe, and they required healthcare organizations to implement best healthcare practices. The components of the 3 HIPAA rules include technical security, administrative security, and physical security. These rules can enhance the efficiency of the healthcare system, improve the portability of healthcare insurance, and ensure the safety of patient information.

What is HIPAA Internet of Things in Healthcare?

HIPAA is a federal law that helps protect patients’ data and ensures it is not disclosed without their consent and knowledge. HIPAA also applies to IoT, which means healthcare facilities need to identify vulnerabilities in their IoT systems and choose the right devices. 

 IoMT Firewall Rules for HIPAA Applications

HIPAA firewall rules apply to IoMT systems and devices. These rules and controls are essential for maintaining the healthcare organization’s security and compliance with HIPAA. You will be fined if these firewall controls aren’t implemented correctly. 

What Are the Components of HIPAA Privacy Rules for Deceased Patients?

If we look at the components of the HIPAA privacy rule, it requires healthcare providers to keep the personal health information of the deceased patient for fifty years after their death.

Which Of The Following Items Is a Technical Safeguard of The Security Rule?

Entity authentication is the technical safeguard of the Security Rule. This rule makes sure that only authorized users access the system or data through identity verification via passwords, biometrics, or security tokens.

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