Data privacy and security are extremely important in the modern age, but consumers are often left in the dark about what happens to their personal information stored by various companies they do business with. It is especially problematic with sensitive patient data stored by medical organizations that, if leaked, could have damaging and lasting repercussions for the compromised individual. Show
So, how are each patient's rights protected? Read on to get an overview of what the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), with main focus on understanding how does HIPAA patient data privacy and patient data security rules differ (like the HIPAA minimum necessary rule). Get An Instant Free Course PreviewTry our best-in-class, interactive, and engaging courses for free! What Is HIPAA?The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that began as an effort to protect Americans from losing their health insurance when they change jobs, but quickly became the law about securing private patient data from being sold, overshared, breached and otherwise abused by medical organizations entrusted with keeping it and malicious criminals looking to steal it. Today, HIPAA is a set of national standards for the physical and electronic safety and confidentiality of protected health information (PHI) within the health and human services (HHS) industry. What Constitutes "Protected Health Information" (PHI) And Patient ePHI?HIPAA identifies "protected health information" (PHI) to include the following points of individually identifiable health information:
In the modern world, most of patient data are stored in digital format: in HIPAA terms, it is known as electronic protected health information (ePHI). Who Must Abide By HIPAA Regulations?HIPAA policies apply to two categories of healthcare organizations, agencies, and individuals, known as "covered entities" and their "business associates". HIPAA's "Covered Entities"A covered entity is one of the following healthcare spaces:
HIPAA's "Business Associates"Within HIPAA vocabulary, a "business associate" is "a person or entity that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of of protected health information on behalf of, or provides services to, a covered entity." A business associate is usually involved with the covered entity in the following capacities:
As such, business associates come in a wide variety of authorized persons and companies, such as consultants, third-party administrators, healthcare clearinghouses, independent medical transcriptionists, as well as pharmacy managers and accounting firms whose functions involve accessing patients' protected health information. HIPAA Compliance EnforcementHIPAA is a federal law that applies to all eligible health care entities across the USA. HIPAA compliance enforcement is mainly the province of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), though other agencies within the HHS have gotten involved in past cases, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Differentiating Between HIPAA Privacy And Security RulesHIPAA actually has more rules than the Privacy and Security rules (there are also Transaction and Code Sets Rule, Unique Identifiers Rule, and Enforcement Rule) but in this article we are focusing on the HIPAA Security and Privacy rules: what they have in common and what sets them apart. Privacy Vs. SecurityLet's quickly define the difference between the notion of data "privacy" and data "security" in general. Privacy has to do with control over one's own personal information, who sees it, and how it's used. Security has to do with guarding personal information against malicious threats like data breaches. When it comes to our personal space, we tend to _seek privacy and confidentiality from people we know/come in contact with -- while we set up physical security measures to stop strangers from stealing our possessions and doing us harm. Data protection works along the same logic. HIPAA Privacy RuleThe HIPAA Privacy Rule is there to prevent improper uses and unauthorized disclosure of PHI. This set of laws serves to identify and limit:
The Privacy Rule centers around each individual patient's right to control their PHI. The basic tenet of this rule is to make PHI available to authorized persons only when it directly benefits the patient's treatment or is used for payment: otherwise, PHI should remain confidential. In a nutshell, the HIPAA Privacy Rule is there to safeguard PHI from the internal carelessness, negligence, and other intentional or accidental abuse by the authorized health care employees who routinely handle PHI as part of their job. HIPAA Security RuleWhile the HIPAA privacy rule concerns itself with the human element involved in ensuring the confidentiality of sensitive information, the HIPAA security rule is all about physically locking up, digitally encrypting, and otherwise shielding patient data from unlawful intrusions and hacks. The HIPAA security rule is a set of security management processes broken down into three types of safeguards: administrative, technical, and physical. Technical SafeguardsTechnical safeguards have to do with IT management within healthcare organizations. They involve:
Physical SafeguardsPhysical safeguards are there for the protection of the hardware containing patient PHI. They involve:
Administrative SafeguardsAdministrative safeguards account for the general management of data security and involve:
In a nutshell, the HIPAA Security Rule is there to protect PHI against external criminal attacks by dishonest parties that were never authorized to access any of these data in the first place. Key Differences And Similarities Summed UpAs you can see, the differences between HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule come down to focusing on different aspects of achieving the same goal: keeping patient information safe. In a way, it is similar to keeping money in the bank: it is a combination of having trustworthy personnel committed to vigilance (privacy) and investing in the best vault, surveillance system and armed guards (security). The main technical difference between the HIPAA Privacy and Security rules is that the _security rule only applies to e-PHI. Only electronic versions of identifiable personal information and health records need apply: the moment they are printed out, they lose the protection of the HIPAA Security Rule (but keep the protection of the HIPAA Privacy Rule.) Also, the HIPAA Security Rule does not apply to oral forms of PHI such as voice recordings, even if they technically exist in electronic format. The Privacy Rule, on the other hand, applies to_all PHI -- electronic, written, and oral/audio-recorded. Ultimately, these two HIPAA rules are there to complement each other -- to close potential gaps and loopholes in patient's rights from multiple angles. And the bottom line is that breaking these and other HIPAA rules is unlawful for a covered entity and its business associates, which can result in government fines as well as potential payouts in "damages" to patients seriously harmed by HIPAA violations. HIPAA Training Is Mandatory: Pick The Best Program For Your Business!Not only are medical facilities, private medical practitioners, and their various facilitators financially liable for HIPAA violations: their patients, their reputations, and other vital aspects of their business are all compromised by data/confidentiality breaches in profound ways. It is, hence, truly best to prevent HIPAA violations from happening in the first place. As such, the above-mentioned healthcare covered entities and their business associates are federally required to be HIPAA-compliant. And this includes mandatory (immediate) HIPAA training for all employees within the healthcare industry that handle protected patient information in various capacities. EasyLlama's Got Your Back With Its Excellent (And Super Easy) HIPAA TrainingHIPAA training, as any other compliance training, may sound daunting but, with EasyLlama, it's simple, fast, and impactful. Designed for today's mobile-reliant workforce, EasyLlama's training is easy and fun for employees to digest. The bite-sized, interactive, real-life scenario-driven modules facilitate the knowledge and understanding of the value of and necessity to protect patient ePHI. As the result, employees become more mindful of and intentional with this dimension of their job. Companies love how easy and effective EasyLlama's fully compliant e-learning programs are for organizations to implement and for employees to complete. Choose EasyLlama for your HIPAA training needs and achieve HIPAA compliance success without breaking into sweat! Written by: Maria Malyk Whats the difference between the Hipaa privacy Rule and the Hipaa security Rule?The Privacy Rule ensures that all forms of Protected Health Information (PHI) are protected and remain private; including physical copies, electronic copies and any information transferred orally. The HIPAA Security Rule differs in that it only applies to Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).
What is the Hipaa privacy Rule and security Rule?The Security Rule protects a subset of information covered by the Privacy Rule, which is all individually identifiable health information a covered entity creates, receives, maintains or transmits in electronic form. The Security Rule calls this information “electronic protected health information” (e-PHI).
What is one of the differences between the privacy Rule and the security Rule quizlet?What are the primary distinctions between the HIPAA Security Rule and the HIPAA Privacy Rule? *The Privacy Rule applies to all forms of patients' PHI, whether electronic, written, or oral. In contrast, the Security Rule covers only PHI that is in electronic form.
What is the main purpose of the Hipaa security Rule?The purpose of the Security Rule is to ensure that every covered entity has implemented safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic protected health information.
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