HIPPA Issues: Occuring Everyday

The agents at Professional Protective Alliance are regular people, and we know you are too.  We also know regular people make mistakes.  Have you ever, as a professional staff, discussed a patient or client on too personal a level?  Maybe he or she owes your practice money, which could lead you to a verbal discussion on the person’s character.  Whatever the reason, we’ve heard it before.

That’s why we want to take a moment to review with you what the HIPPA law entails:

The Privacy Rule protects all ‘individually identifiable health information’ held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information ‘protected health information (PHI).’

‘Individually identifiable health information’ is information, including demographic data, that relates to:

• the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition,

• the provision of healthcare to the individual, or

• the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual,

and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual. Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).

To read the information in full please visit:

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/index.html

Best Wishes,

The Insurance Center of North Jersey

Professional Protective Alliance