3. What is HIPPA?
In 1996 President Clinton signed the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This new
law was enacted as part of a broad congressional attempt at
incremental healthcare reform.
HIPAA has two primary purposes. One is to provide
continuous insurance coverage for workers who change
jobs, and the other is to “reduce the costs and
administrative burdens of health care by making possible
the standardized, electronic transmission of many
administrative and financial transactions that are currently
carried out manually on paper”.
4. This HIPAA Training
Program will answer…
What does HIPAA do?
Who has to follow the HIPAA law?
What is Protected Health Information?
When do we start?
How does HIPAA affect you?
Why is HIPAA important?
5. What does HIPPA do?
• HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996. It is a
federal law that…
– Protects the privacy of a client’s personal and
health information
– Provides for electronic and physical security of
personal and health information
– Simplifies billing and other transactions
6. HIPAA is the law!
• HIPAA regulations are the minimum starting
point for protecting health information and do
not supersede any rules, regulations, or
standards that are more stringent.
9. Who Is Impacted?
• Health care providers – A provider of medical, psychiatric, or
other health services, and any other person or entity furnishing
health care services or supplies.
• Health plans – an individual or group health plan that provides
or pays the cost of medical care.
• Clearinghouses – A public or private entity that processes or
facilitates the processing of non-standard data elements of
health information into standard data elements and who
transmits any health information in electronic form in
connection with a transaction covered in the legislation.
• Business Associates and Trading Partners
10. What is considered
Protected Health Information?
• A person’s name, address, birth date,
age, phone and fax numbers, e-mail
address
• Medical records, diagnosis, x-rays,
photos, prescriptions, lab work, test
results
• Billing records, claim data, referral
authorizations, explanation of
benefits
• Research records
11. When can you use PHI?
• ONLY to do your job or duties!
• At all other times, protect a client’s
information as if it were your own
information!
12. How can you use PHI?
• You may look at a person’s
PHI only if you need it to do
your job or duties.
• You may use a person’s PHI
only if you need it to do your job or duties.
• You may give a person’s PHI to
others when it is necessary for them to do their jobs.
• You may talk to others about a person’s PHI only if it is
necessary to do your job or duties.
13. Why is HIPAA important?
Protecting privacy is important!
• We all want our PHI to be
private
• Our clients want their PHI to
be private
• It’s the right thing to do
• It’s the law
14. What can happen if we
don’t follow HIPAA?
• Someone who does not
protect a person’s personal
and/or health care privacy
could:
– Lose his/her job
– Pay fines
– Go to jail
15. HIPAA Stories
Please read the following two
HIPAA stories carefully as
you will be asked to discuss
them on the quiz.