Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category:
Patients Rights under HIPAA
Pursuant to the HIPAA Privacy Regulations, patients have the right to:
1. Receive a copy of the covered entity’s Notice of Privacy Practices.
2. Request restrictions on disclosures of protected health information (“PHI”).
3. Request alternative means of communicating PHI.
4. Inspect and obtain copies of PHI.
5. Request amendments to PHI.
6. Receive an accounting of disclosures of PHI.
However, the rule does not authorize individuals to bring a private cause of action against a covered entity. Nevertheless, individuals can file a complaint against covered entities that they believe have not complied with the regulation. The complaint should be filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The complaint must:
Be filed within 180 days of when the complainant knew that a violation had occurred (unless the Secretary of DHHS waives time limit for good cause);
Be written and submitted via U.S. postal mail or electronically; and
Include the name of the covered entity and a description of the alleged relevant violations.
The covered entity must provide compliant records and compliance reports to DHHS and must co-operate with complaint investigations and compliance reviews.
Subscribe to the comments for this postInsurers now on prohibited from using genetic data for their own sake
From now May 21, 2008, the insurance companies in America would be in check after the approval and final signature of President Bush on Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act 2008 into a law in context of predisposition. As passing of the act has modified existing laws into the new and stricter ones to better protect an individual’s privacy.
This act definitely will work as deterrent to insurance companies that on pretext of predisposition to any diseases deny insurance benefit to a claimer. As the information pertaining to predisposition is very easy for companies to obtain due to many existing systems and norms by hiring services of genomic companies.
This act has really come as an aid for the protection of an individual’s right to privacy, as it was only employer and other health insurers privy to a person’s privacy and information that forced the implementation of state and federal guidelines on the issue.
Under this law insured individuals are protected on the basis of prohibition on group health plans and health insures from denying coverage merely on the basis of their predisposition to developing diseases and conditions. At the same time law restrict insurance companies from raising premiums on health plans based on genetic predisposition.
Many scientific evolutions in area of genetics like tools to sequence DNA under the projects like Human Genome Project have made it easy to map out predisposition in one’s genes. Microarrays as used by companies can scan more than 1 million genetic markers in a matter of hours.
HIPAA Basics
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, an act that was enabled in 1996. The act was in part a response to the increased movement of people and families from one place to another. HIPAA allows for continuity in health insurance through job changes and eliminates the practice of excluding people from coverage because of any pre-existing conditions. HIPAA also aims to make healthcare more accountable in terms of cost.
Simply put, HIPAA provisions ensure that you get to keep your health insurance during transitions. They may also help you get other insurance if you lose the insurance coverage provided by your previous employer.
As per the HIPAA framework, the Department of Health and Human Services had to establish regulations for the handling of health information of patients. These rules relate to four core areas: transactions and code sets, identifiers, privacy, and security.
Transactions and code sets ensure that industry-wide standards are set for proper and correct transfer of information between health care entities. These entities, including health care providers, clearing houses, and insurers are given unique identifiers. This allows information to be transmitted quickly once identification is established. It also helps boost the privacy of information. No unauthorized person or entity can access confidential health information.
HIPAA’s Privacy Rule provides policy guidelines to support large-scale privacy. In simple terms, it specifies who may share what information with whom. The privacy rule also provides additional requirements that deal with the risk of accidental exposure.
The security rule deals with the technical measures used to enforce an organization’s information-handling policy. HIPAA provides standards for minimum protection, making it easy for entities to achieve the desired security levels.