East Coast Shredding Newsletter

strictly adhered to. So this is why it is important to instate a comprehensive written compliance policy. Though the health care field seems to have a firm grasp of how to be compliant, it seems that some smaller offices might not understand the law as well as they need to. This in part can be blamed on the complicated wording of the law itself. HIPAA is not the only law that governs information and how we need to handle it. There are other laws like FACTA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the Federal Privacy Act. In fact, one thing most health care providers don't realize even though they may follow proper HIPAA rules is that if they extend credit to a client they also need to follow the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. All of these laws have something in common; they are complicated and hard to understand. It's no wonder businesses are turning a blind eye to something that could potentially cripple their reputation and financial well being.

In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act or HIPAA Act was passed.

There are two parts to HIPAA that need to be understood.

· HIPAA amended the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986. The first section deals with the legal end of amending the laws.

· HIPAA also covers the administrative aspects of health care administration and information systems, and gives an organized format to follow so all health care entities can become standardized.

The purpose of HIPAA was to simplify health care administration. There are deadlines for compliance; HIPAA does provide penalties and legal action for noncompliance. There are several parts to HIPAA:

· Standards for Electronic Transactions:  Providers are able to use standard forms to file electronic claimsor when they send an electronic medical record. Providers are now required to use the same standard forms when filing for Medicare. If you are a provider that does not file electronically you will not be affected by HIPAA. HIPAA has mandated that a standardized set of codes be used in record keeping to identify physical conditions, diseases, and other health issues. Most providers and institutions already use this practice. HIPAA will be enforced and deadlines for compliance will be enforced.

· Unique Identifiers Standards:  HIPAA allows for providers to be identified. Each Health Care Provider is required to have a unique identifier, currently doctors, hospitals and health plans are using either tax-id numbers or employer identification number to do this.

· Security Rule/ Privacy Rule:  The security and privacy rules contain provisions to ensure that people's personal records and information will be protected and kept confidential. Having these security measures written into a compliance policy for each provider, helps keep everyone involved working uniformly on the same goals. Be advised that with HIPAA and all other privacy laws there will be penalties for non compliance, HIPAA provides for fines up to $250,000 and possible jail time for severe enough violations.

So now what? Now that you understand the basics of what the law says, how do you become compliant? The first step is to get a compliance tool kit. While browsing around on the internet I found several companies that provide a service to prepare companies like yours, and you can pay them to come in and set you up. Another option, if you would like to take on this challenge yourself, is through companies like ours who offer a compliance kit with sign up for service. We can help walk you through the process and provide a kit for your business free with sign up for our service. Lastly you can buy or come up with your own kit to become compliant, just make sure that if follows the rules of the law.

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