Part B Insider - 2023 Issue 5
Compliance: Refresh on Rules to Stay HIPAA Compliant Post-PHE
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Article Overview
This article provides a post-public-health-emergency refresher on HIPAA compliance for healthcare practices and coding staff. It focuses on broad privacy and access concepts, including protected health information, release and authorization considerations, and patient access rights, with practical nuances relevant to day-to-day compliance workflows. The piece is aimed at readers who need to understand which HIPAA rules resume after the PHE and what areas warrant a policy review.
Why This Topic Matters
As temporary COVID-era flexibility ends, practices need to recheck privacy and records-access processes to avoid compliance gaps. The article helps readers identify the main HIPAA areas most likely to affect patient handling, release requests, and access requests.
Article Sections
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PHI Knowledge a Must
Introduces the concept of protected health information and discusses the types of information that can affect whether data is considered protected. Also addresses a nuance related to identifying individuals through contextual clues.
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Release Patients’ PHI Properly
Reviews general considerations for releasing patient information under HIPAA, including consent and authorization concepts. Also touches on verification of identity and the difference between routine and other disclosures.
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Remember Patient Access Rules for PHI
Summarizes patient access rights to records and designated record sets. Also notes timing, fees, and categories of information that are not always subject to disclosure.
What You Will Learn
- How HIPAA compliance considerations change as temporary pandemic-era waivers end
- What kinds of patient information may be protected under HIPAA
- How release, consent, authorization, and identity verification are addressed at a high level
- What patient access rights exist for designated record sets and related records requests
- Which general areas of HIPAA policy may need review in a practice setting
Who Should Read This
- Medical coders
- Compliance staff
- Practice managers
- Healthcare billing staff
- Privacy and records personnel
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