Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Compliance
|
Privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), apply to health information
created or maintained by health care providers who engage in electronic
transactions. We file insurance claims electronically for all companies
which allow direct submission through Envoy/WebMD, so we are a
"covered entity" as defined by the plan. As of October 16, 2002,
this office will be in compliance with published guidelines for HIPPA.
Final security guidelines have not yet been published, but we will
maintain maximal security of protected patient health information as
described in projected guidelines which have been released by the Federal
Government.
Compliance requires that we provide patients with a current Notice of Privacy Practices, which is available for viewing and printing from this site. Recently published changes to the privacy rule do not require a signed patient consent for treatment, payment, and health care operations, but this may be challenged by the original congressional authors of the Act, so we plan to request that patients or parents sign a standard HIPPA-compliant consent form. Separate authorization forms must be signed for non-routine use of protected health information. These forms can be viewed and printed by clicking the links in the column on the left side of this page. Detailed information about this Act can be accessed by exploring links to the CMS HIPAA home page as well as an excellent question-and-answer forum sponsored by the Ohio Medical Association. Additional questions should be directed to Dr. Estes, who is the compliance officer for this office. We are very sensitive to concerns about protecting private health information from unauthorized use for any purpose. We fully support the goals and intent of this congressional act and look forward to working with our patients to maintain health information security at the highest level possible. |
|
|
CENTER FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS) HIPAA HOME PAGE |
|
|
HIPAA QUESTION & ANSWER BOARD (OHIO STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION) |