Emily Clarke

The Importance of HIPAA

Everyone has personal information about themselves that they may not feel like sharing with the world. Some of this information may be kept private out of embarrassment, but some information may be kept private in an attempt to protect others. Medical information often falls into one of these categories, and at times, it may fall into both.

If someone is sick with a fatal disease, they may not want friends and family members to know to spare them the worry. Likewise, someone who has a medical condition that may be difficult to talk about openly with strangers may not want the public to know about the condition.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a law created in 1996 that is designed to protect sensitive medical information. In the above examples, HIPAA prevents medical information from being shared with unauthorized entities. This assures patients in the United States that medical professionals and facilities will not share potentially harmful medical information with others outside the patient's consent.

Who Regulates HIPAA?

While HIPAA itself is federally regulated by the Office for Civil Rights, various hospitals, doctors' offices and other medical care providers must maintain their compliance protocols. Many partner with specialists in data recovery for healthcare to maintain record-keeping compliance. A company that specializes in data recovery for healthcare can also recover patient medical information in the event of a system error or security breach.

Who Has Access to HIPAA Data?

The patient always maintains control over who can access HIPAA data. In most cases, you will be provided with HIPAA literature and forms upon seeing a new healthcare provider. This paperwork will give you the option to list the names of people or entities with whom you would like to share information. Any name not included on this list will not be given access to your medical information, even if this person is a family member or employer. Only the people you have listed can be provided with your healthcare information.

Author Resource:-

Emily Clarke writes about tech, online education, programming lessons and more. You can find her thoughts at AWS services blog.