What is HIPAA?
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was established in the USA in 1996 to protect an individual’s personal health care related information. The health care industry is required to comply with all set security measures of HIPAA to keep patients personal information confidential and safe. On April 21, 2005, all HIPAA guidelines regarding the development, management, and storage of health information became enforceable by law.
The guidelines were developed to protect private health information of patients. Health care providers and associates that have access to this information are required to follow strict guidelines and to implement processes to ensure the privacy of this confidential information. Failure to comply with these regulations carries severe fines and penalties.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED?
- All patient health care information that is:
- Electronic Data includes information that is:
- Lab Reports
- Insurance Claims
- Consent Forms
- Patient Records
WHY USE A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION?
Compliance with the HIPAA regulations can be difficult with paper based records systems. The main challenges are security of the information, tracking and reporting on who has had access to it, and implementing policies related to PHI (personal health information). Document management systems inherently solve these challenges using encryption, access security, and tracking of document actions. Document management systems allow you to successfully implement and maintain a HIPAA compliance plan to mitigate your risks.