Introduction
One of the most fundamental elements that regulate the health care sector is Act of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability otherwise popularly known as HIPAA. However, the risk of breaching of the HIPAA regulation can be severe for both medical workers and legal professionals. This article sets out to equip attorneys with the basic information about HIPAA violations – the effects it bears for their work as well as how medical records review services ease some of the issues that are associated with HIPAA violation cases.
What is HIPAA?
Overview of HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sometimes referred to as HIPAA came into force on 6th December 1996 as a measure that would prevent sensitive information of patients from being divulged without the patient’s knowledge or consent. HIPAA imposes national standards for the protection of health information and applies to health care providers, health plans and health care clearinghouses.
Key Components of HIPAA
- Privacy Rule: Set forth standards for the privacy and protection of health information.
- Security Rule: Provide standards for all ePHI that is received, maintained, or transmitted on a covered entity.
- Breach Notification Rule: Requires that a covered entity must notify each person whose unsecured health information has been breached.
What Constitutes a HIPAA Violation?
Definition of a HIPAA Violation
Use or disclosure of unsecured PHI by an entity that has a standing contract with the covered business is regarded as a HIPAA breach. In a simpler phrased, a HIPAA breach takes place when such a contract is not complied by a certain business.
Common Types of HIPAA Violations
- Unrestricted Access: Health managerial personnel using nondisclosure agreements to access patients’ documentation without any authorized purpose.
- Incorrect Burying of Documents: Enclosing confidentiality documentation in a firesafe filing cabinet and shredding it.
- Security Infraction on ePHI: Not having ePHI secured by means of encryption or any other protocols.
- Breach Penalty: Failing to notify victims of the breach promptly.
Consequences of HIPAA Violations
Legal and Financial Repercussions
HIPAA violations can lead to significant legal and financial consequences, including:
- Civil Penalties: Fines ranging from $100 to $50,000 per violation, depending on the severity.
- Criminal Penalties: In severe cases, individuals may face imprisonment.
- Reputational Damage: Loss of trust from patients and the public.
Impact on Legal Professionals
For Medical record attorneys, it is essential to know how breaches of HIPAA occur. A breach might endanger a case or lead to client or lawyer malpractice suits.
How Medical Records Review Services Assist Attorneys
Importance of Medical Records Review
Medical records review services play a vital role in ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations. These services help attorneys by:
- Identifying Violations: This involves conducting review in depth to see if any HIPAA violation is likely to have occurred with respect to the medical records.
- Providing Expert Analysis: The issues relating such violations with respect to legal requirements are more logical from the legal perspective.
- Ensuring Compliance: Preparing management plans and counter measures to manage the risks properly.
Our Approach to Medical Records Review
We specialize in providing comprehensive medical records review services tailored for attorneys. Our process includes:
- Initial Consultation: Gathering information about the legal professional’s misery and requirements.
- Detailed Review: Reviewing such medical records to ascertain the outcome of their review and ensure compliance.
- Reporting Findings: Providing clear guidance on the scope of violations in terms of repairs needed and other remedial ideas.
Case Studies
Case Study 1: Unauthorized Access Violation
Overview: A workforce member of the provider of healthcare entered patient records without permission which led to a HIPAA violation.
Challenges: The provider had a problem verifying the expanse and scope of the retrospective examination or the incident and its effects on patient privacy.
Solutions: Our medical records review team made a thorough examination of the records to see what records had been accessed and what remediation procedures were carried out.
Compensation: The provider was able to avoid some penalties by showing a reasonable level of due diligence to comply with core regulations.
Case Study 2: Breach Notification Failure
Overview: A clinic failed to inform its patients on a data breach that occurred within a reasonable time frame which violated the HIPAA laws.
Challenges: Patients took the law suit against the clinicians as well as regulatory bodies intervened seeking action.
Solutions: We helped the clinician in formulating policies on how breach notifications were to be issued and also conducted a review of the clinician’s security policies.
Compensation: The committee was able to avoid some liabilities by showing the measures that they took to comply with the established rules.
Conclusion
It is also critical for attorneys who are dealing with medical records to understand the infringements of HIPAA law. Preceding factors like infringement classifications, the effects of infringements and the meaning of record reviews in a HIPAA compliant environment assist legal practitioners in mastering the tenets of this legislation. We help attorneys ensure that their practices are HIPAA compliant so that the attorney’s client as well as the attorney himself is protected from any potential repercussions.