Hospitals, healthcare agencies, medical professionals, and clinics all rely on some health information management system to store their data. Data plays a critical role in successfully deploying a health information management system such as one provided by Alpha II Medical Coding. Medical institutes must maintain the confidentiality, privacy, and security of all health information related to their patients and health service providers. All three of these terms will have different implications on the efficiency of the medical institute.
What Is Health Information?
Any official documentation of an individual’s health such as information related to their medical condition, diagnosis, medical reports, and or disability can all be defined as health information. All forms of health information will always be critical and personal for the patient. That is why there are laws to ensure that medical institutes do not share any of your information with anybody without your consent.
HIPAA Enforcing Patient Confidentiality Laws
All of a patient’s medical records, reports, and health-related information shared with a medical institute must be kept private according to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This includes all of the data you have shared with medical practitioners, medical institutes, insurance organizations, pharmacies, or any other healthcare institutes. None of these organizations can divulge any of your personal health information without your permission unless it is done for the safety and protection of others in an emergency. All of these medical institutes must maintain confidentiality, privacy, and security of all their patient’s information and in return, HIPAA provides the following services.
- Ensures the confidentiality and protection of all patient’s health information
- Administers health insurance coverage and the ability to retain their coverage when any American switches their job or loses their current employment.
- Curtails abuse related to healthcare fraud
- Imposes compulsory standards for medical institutes to follow at the time of electronic billing and other transactions and processes.
Medical institutes must maintain HIPAA Privacy regulations whenever protected health information is obtained, modified, exchanged, or distributed.
Medical Professionals & Institutions Maintaining Confidentiality
Medical professionals come across their patient’s personal protected health information whenever they provide their services to their clients. Each medical practitioner has a legal obligation to comply with the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Code of Ethics. Medical institutes can take legal action against individuals not complying with this code of ethics. Medical practitioners and institutes following this code of ethics will automatically become renowned in their medical field of specialization for administering quality services.
Maintaining Privacy Administering Medical Services
A patient has the right to choose who to share their personal health information with and medical institutes must grant them this right. Medical institutions must maintain the privacy of all of their patient’s personal information every time a patient decides to refer to another doctor or share their lab results with a consultant. The professionals involved in making sure that the patient receives the required service cannot divulge the information at any time.
Maintaining Security Of Patient’s Data
There was a time when paper-based records were placed in lockers to ensure the security of documentation. However, because documents are now digitized and stored, it is simple to define who has access to that data. Top-tier medical data entry service providers have improved data security and safeguards against data leaks by utilizing cutting-edge security.
According to the HIPAA Security Rule, all of the electronic documentation held by a medical institute must remain secure whenever any kind of transaction takes place. This rule also clarifies how secure billing can take place with the consent of the patient.
