The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996 to safeguard patients’ private health information (PHI). Since the law’s creation, it has been altered numerous times, most recently in 2009 with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s HITECH section, which extended the protections to include electronic PHI (ePHI) (Marron, 2022). The 2018 OCR HIPAA Summary of Settlements and Judgments from the Department of Health and Human Services is the focus of this assignment’s analysis of a resolution agreement (Sollins, 2020). This essay and analysis will give information about broken confidentiality and safety laws. Furthermore, it will explore the fines levied due to the decision, a healthcare service modification to include relevant Federal standards, and a risk assessment policy highlighting pertinent laws and regulations.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes guidelines for how insurance companies and their business partners may use and disclose protected health information (PHI). Following the HIPAA Security Regulation, adequate and essential organizational, technological, financial, and environmental protections are maintained to secure ePHI. The rule also defines requirements for ePHI protection (Colorafi & Bailey, 2019). Furthermore, the HITECH Act mandates that affected persons and covered entities communicate particular HIPAA breaches of unprotected PHI to the federal government. Healthcare businesses should refer to the 2018 OCR HIPAA Summary of Settlements and Judgments as a valuable resource for information about the repercussions of breaking these rules and laws (Marron, 2022). It offers information on the HIPAA, HITECH Act, and other relevant legislation compliance requirements.
The University of Rochester Medical Center has been selected as the case study for this examination. It was accused of breaking HIPAA Security, the Breach Notification, and Privacy Rule. The medical center broke the privacy rule by neglecting to put in place the general management, technological, and organizational protections to maintain the privacy, availability, and integrity of the ePHI kept on its network. The medical center violated the security regulation by failing to accurately and thoroughly assess the risks associated with its ePHI systems.
The court ordered the university’s medical center to comply with the verdict, pay a $3 million civil monetary penalty, and establish a remedial action plan with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) (Colorafi & Bailey, 2019). The corrective action plan required it to develop and implement a process for frequently monitoring and revising its safeguards and to establish a risk evaluation and planning process. In addition, the healthcare facility had to create and implement guidelines for observing and handling possible security incidents.
To improve the health system, the medical facility should develop a plan to include applicable Federal standards. This plan should include an analysis of the system’s current state and the necessary steps to comply with the HIPAA rules. Additionally, the goal should consist of training and education for all staff involved in the management of ePHI (Sollins, 2020). Furthermore, it must create a strategy incorporating relevant Federal criteria to enhance the health system. This idea should analyze the system’s existing condition and outline the measures required to bring it into compliance with HIPAA regulations (Colorafi & Bailey, 2019). The employees participating in the administration of ePHI should also receive training and education as part of the plan.
In conclusion, the case sheds significant light on how strict adherence to HIPAA privacy and security requirements is required to safeguard patient health information. This instance teaches us the value of performing a precise and comprehensive risk analysis, putting in place clear accountability, digital, and keeping an eye out for and responding to security issues. Organizations can ensure that their systems are safe and HIPAA-compliant by creating a plan incorporating relevant Federal standards. This model involves a hazard assessment strategy that addresses applicable laws and offers education for all staff members involved in the management of ePHI.
References
Colorafi, K., & Bailey, B. (2019). It’s time for innovation in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). JMIR Medical Informatics, 4(4). Web.
Marron, J. A. (2022). Implementing the health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA) security rule: A cybersecurity resource guide. NIST Special Publication 800-66r2. Web.
Sollins, H. (2020). Health Insurance Portability and accountability act (HIPAA). Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, 1014–1015. Web.