The health insurance portability and accountability act, or HIPAA, is a federal law that took action in 1996. The purpose of this law is to regulate and standardize the process of handling sensitive patient information. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the HIPAA Privacy Rule to highlight the requirements of patient privacy protection.
Ever since the start of the COVID pandemic, the use of telehealth services has bloomed. As a result, many people started debating whether these communication channels protect patient privacy. While the system is not perfect at the moment, there is some real progress that’s being made to adhere to HIPAA rules.
This article will cover the different aspects of healthcare privacy in the United States, including the HIPAA rules.
Why is HIPAA Important for Patients?
The main goal set by HIPAA is to protect patients. Differently put, the guidelines of HIPAA ensure that the medical staff, health plans, and other related entities are keeping patient personal information safe and secure.
HIPAA is important for patients because it:
- Informs patients about where their information might be used
- Provides patients with more control over their personal information
- Gives patients the right to obtain and examine a copy of their health records. Patients can also ask for corrections.
- Creates boundaries for the use and disclosure of health records
- Holds violators accountable. This can translate to civil or criminal penalties
- Aids with establishing appropriate safeguards by healthcare providers
While no healthcare organization would deliberately leak sensitive information about patients, HIPAA adds a legal safeguard to this process instead of relying on moral principles.
Who needs to comply with HIPAA?
HIPAA regulations need to be followed by doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and other healthcare providers.
Let us break down this list:
Healthcare providers – All elements working close to patients must follow HIPAA regulations and HIPAA transactions rule.
Some of these transactions may include:
- Claims
- Benefit eligibility inquiries
- Referral authorization requests
Health plans – Healthcare insurers must also comply with HIPAA regulations. This applies to health maintenance organizations (HMOs), Medicare, and Medicaid insurers.
Business associates – This list includes any person or organization that uses individually identifiable information about patients.
The rights preserved by HIPAA
HIPAA ensures that the following patient information gets protected:
- Any input of information in medical records by a physician, nurse, or other staff members
- Private conversation with healthcare providers
- Billing information that includes personal data
- Data stored in the computer system of insurers
Note that this list is not comprehensive. Other types of information also follow HIPAA regulations, which help with protecting sensitive information and prevent leaks.
If you have questions about specific HIPAA regulations, do not hesitate to contact us via this link (insert link of the other article).
Telemedicine and HIPAA compliance
For telehealth services to comply with HIPAA, they need to place several safeguards within their systems.
Most of these services focus on limiting the use and disclosure of patient information. There are also several procedures that limit the number of people who have access to patient information. What is most important, however, is training employees is become aware of HIPAA regulations and how to respect them.
HIPAA regulation exemptions
Despite the broad spectrum of HIPAA regulations, there are surprisingly many organizations that possess sensitive health information but are not required to follow HIPAA rules.
Such examples include:
- Life insurers
- Employers
- Workers compensation carriers
- Most schools
- School districts
- Many state agencies (e.g., child protective services)
- Most law enforcement agencies
- Many municipal offices
Safeguards to protect personal information of patients
The following sections will detail some of the measures we take to guarantee the safety of your personal information:
Administrative safeguards
A few examples of administrative safeguards include:
Acceptable use policies – Training employees to understand their access rights and responsibilities when dealing with patient information.
Sanction policies – Disciplinary measures and sanctions for employees who violate these policies.
Information access policies – Limit access to health records, computer workstations, and transactions to only authorized personnel.
Security awareness training – Training employees about the importance of complying with HIPAA regulations. This also includes training about computer log-in monitoring, software updates, and password guard keeping.
Contingency planning – Policies, preparations, and procedures to respond in the case of a leakage.
Technical safeguards
To protect the personal health information of patients, medical facilities need to use appropriate software and equipment. Furthermore, many organizations limit access to patient data through technical safeguards. This serves to reinforce the administrative policies covered above.
Encrypting personal information when using, restoring, backing up, or transferring personal information is also a pillar of technical safeguards.
The final technical safeguard that all healthcare parties should implement is destroying the personal health information of patients when it is no longer useful.
Physical safeguards
Physical safeguards focus on protecting the location where patient information is stored. This becomes even more important with telehealth services as the information might be located on offshore servers.
How do authorities discover HIPAA violations
Many times, HIPAA violations may fly under the radar without being detected. However, healthcare providers need to keep in mind that the longer the violation lasts, the more severe the penalty is. In other words, the duration of the violation is proportional to the chosen penalty.
Therefore, healthcare facilities should do everything in their power to perform regular HIPAA compliance reviews and enroll employees in training programs.
Generally speaking, authorities can discover HIPAA violations in one of three ways:
- Investigations conducted by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) into a data breach
- Investigations into complaints about business associates
- HIPAA compliance audits
Takeaway message
HIPAA regulations serve to protect the sensitive information of patients. These regulations mandate healthcare providers and related entities to implement safeguard measures that protect personally identifiable data from getting leaked.
Hopefully, this article managed to highlight healthcare privacy in the US and the laws that ensure its protection.
Online Threat Alerts Security Tips
Pay the safest way
Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.
Guard your personal information
In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.
Be careful of the information you share
Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with
Know who you’re dealing with
Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.
Check your accounts
Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.
Don’t believe promises of easy money
If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.
Do not open email from people you don’t know
If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.
Think before you click
If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.
Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond
If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.
Be careful with links and new website addresses
Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.
Secure your personal information
Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.
Stay informed on the latest cyber threats
Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.
Use Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are critical to online security.
Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs
Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.
Update the operating systems on your electronic devices
Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.
What if You Got Scammed?
Stop Contact With The Scammer
Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.
Secure Your Finances
- Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
- Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:
- Equifax
- Experian
- TransUnion
Check Your Computer
If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.
Change Your Account Passwords
Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.
Report The Scam
Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.
Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:
- Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
- Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
- Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.
How To Recognize a Phishing Scam
Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.
Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might
- say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
- claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
- say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
- include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
- want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
- say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
- offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real
About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.
By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.
With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.
Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.
Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).