Check out what you need to know about HIPAA rules and regulations.
When it comes to your health or your child’s health, it’s important to know that your sensitive health information is protected. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) passed in 1996, helps to keep your health records safe and secure. Check out these HIPAA rules and regulations to learn how you’re protected and what rights you have when it comes to your medical record.
What Does HIPAA Do?
HIPAA helps to secure your health information to set limits on who has access to such records. It applies to information that is written, oral, or electronic. That way all your information is secure.
To Whom Does HIPAA Apply?
Everyone that works in healthcare is bound to these rules and regulations. Doctors, hospital staff, insurance companies, and healthcare clearinghouses are all held to these privacy standards. They are not allowed to share information unless it is pertinent to your health and their job function. However, do keep in mind that there are other entities that may not be held to these same rules. Life insurers, employers, law enforcement, and other parties that are not healthcare-centric are not held to those same HIPAA laws.
What Type Of Information Is Protected?
HIPAA laws help to protect information that goes into your medical record, billing information, computer records of you held by your health insurance, conversations that your doctors and nurse have about your treatment, and anything else that pertains to your healthcare.
What Measures Are Taken To Protect Your Information?
There are various ways in which your health records are protected. Disclosures are limited to a need-to-know basis, various procedures are in place to limit exposure and train staff on how to handle sensitive information, and safeguards are implemented to prevent your information from being used improperly.
HIPAA rules and regulations help to keep your personal health information safe. Contact the Pediatric Surgical Associates for all your pediatric surgical needs. Our Orange County pediatric surgeons are experts at protecting your kids’ health, and wellness!