Laws of the HIPAA Act
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPAA was enacted in order to address the transmission of a patient's health care information. In 2003, HIPAA's regulatory agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, announced the "privacy rule." This rule pertained to protecting oral and written health information. Thereafter, the "security rule" emerged, applying to electronic transmissions of health information. In 2006, the agency announced the enforcement provisions, which contain the penalty provisions. In addition, there are identifier and code rules.
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HIPAA Privacy Rule
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The "privacy rule" of HIPAA is the most substantial area and the most widely discussed issue. This rule provides that health care providers must make efforts to ensure that oral, written and electronic transmissions of patients' protected health information is safeguarded and kept confidential.
HIPAA Security Rule
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HIPAA also contains a "security rule." The security rule provides for additional protections of a patient's protected health data, but this rule applies only to electronic transmission of the data.
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HIPAA Enforcement Rule
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In 2006, the final enforcement rule for HIPAA was released. This enforcement rule provides for the procedure for complaints of HIPAA violations. In addition, the rule includes civil monetary penalties that can be assessed for violations of HIPAA.
Transactions and Code Set Rules
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The transactions and code set HIPAA rules contain specific entities that utilize patient information, and these rules classify the entities and require the entities to abide by HIPAA. For instance, there is a retail pharmacy transaction code, a health care claim transaction code and a benefits enrollments code, among numerous other types of codes.
Unique Identifiers Rule
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Another part of HIPAA requires health care providers to utilize a national identification number, also known as a unique identifier, when handling protected health information.
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