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What Are 3 Major Things Addressed in the HIPAA Law?

HIPAA law protects patients and their personal health information to keep doctor-patient confidentiality safe. It also serves to ensure that healthcare clinics and businesses do not share sensitive information without a patient’s consent.

What Is HIPAA Law?

HIPAA law is based on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, a federal law that required the construction of nationally standardized regulations in regard to the handling and protection of sensitive patient health data.

In response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule, which protects some of the private information identified in the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

What Are 3 Major Things Addressed in the HIPAA Law?

Though HIPAA regulations are complex and detailed, these are the three main areas that are addressed:

  • Administrative standards: This portion of the requirements identifies people who will oversee HIPAA standards, create backups and implement emergency plans, address breaches when they occur, and handle the annual assessment of data care.
  • Physical security: This aspect of HIPAA is directed at the computers and security for offices and databases that contain the sensitive information that requires protection.
  • Technical security: HIPAA also requires encryption of sensitive data in order to protect healthcare networks from hackers. It also requires that employees at healthcare businesses update passwords and make them as unique as possible frequently.

What Does HIPAA Law Mean for Employers and Healthcare Businesses?

Healthcare businesses are most frequently found to be violating HIPAA laws when there is a data breach followed by an investigation, an investigation into complaints by employees or patients, or a HIPAA compliance audit is conducted.

If your business is facing a compliance audit or investigation due to HIPAA, reach out to Florida Healthcare Law Firm today. We can help you navigate the problem, update your processes, and get compliant.