To protect patient information the United States government
implement the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 which is commonly referred to as HIPAA. HIPAA consists of
five titles: "Title I: Protects health insurance coverage for workers
and their families who change or lose their jobs. It limits new health
plans' ability to deny coverage due to a pre-existing condition. Title
II: Prevents Health Care Fraud and Abuse; Medical Liability Reform;
Administrative Simplification that requires the establishment of
national standards for electronic health care transactions and
national identifiers for providers, employers, and health insurance
plans. Title III: Guidelines for pre-tax medical spending accounts. It
provides changes to health insurance law and deductions for medical
insurance. Title IV: Guidelines for group health plans. It provides
modifications for health coverage. Title V: Governs company-owned
life insurance policies. Makes provisions for treating people without
United States Citizenship and repealed financial institution rule to
interest allocation rules." (Edemekong PF, 2022). A patient's health
record is something sacred and should always remain private unless
the patients' themselves decide to share their information. With the
establishment of HIPAA patient's can be a little bit more at ease
knowing that their personal health record remains confidential and if
something from their record was shared without consent there
would be serious repercussions. HIPAA simply put makes it so that a
patient's healthcare information is on a "need to know" basis. There
is also the HITECH Act (Health Information Technology for Economic
and Clinical Health Act). The HITECH Act was applied during former
President Barack Obama's tenure. The HITECH Act is defined as,
"The HITECH Act was created to promote and expand the adoption
of health information technology, specifically, the use of electronic
health records (EHRs) by healthcare providers." (2021). The
implementation of the HITECH Act helped push the EHR to be
utilized by healthcare organizations. Prior to the HITECH Act only
approximately 10% of healthcare facilities were using electronic
health records!! Also, the HITECH Act helped to tighten any type of
loopholes that were established during HIPAA. The HITECH Act has
helped to improve privacy and security of patient's health records.
References:
Edemekong PF, Annamaraju P, Haydel MJ. Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act. [Updated 2022 Feb 3]. In:
StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022
Jan-. Available
from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK500019/
What is the hitech act. HIPAA Journal. (2021, June 14). Retrieved May
3, 2022, from https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-is-the-hitech-act/
