Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) began operating in 1996. Its primary goal was to ensure that patients receive necessary healthcare without compromising their privacy. This federal law established national standards to safeguard sensitive patient information, especially for those without adequate support or family assistance during their medical journey. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) developed the HIPAA privacy rule to outline its requirements, making HIPAA self-sufficient.

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Scholarly research has connected the HIPAA Safe Harbor provision with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The HIPAA Privacy Rule, while vital, has limitations, such as disclosing Protected Health Information (PHI) (Compliancy Group, 2020). The HIPAA Safe Harbor rule identifies protected health information that has already been de-identified. The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects identifiable individual diagnoses, encompassing various forms of transmission, including oral, paper, electronic, or media. This transmitted information is known as Protected Health Information (PHI).

Individually Identifiable Health Information includes demographic data related to a patient’s past, present, or future mental or physical health, healthcare provision, or payment for healthcare. HIPAA Safe Harbor De-identification involves removing specific patient identifiers, relatives, employers, or household members. This process becomes satisfactory when specific identifiers are removed, and the resulting information is no longer considered PHI.

According to Sweeney, Loo, and Brody (2017), specific information must be de-identified under the HIPAA Safe Harbor Provision. This information includes data elements that could uniquely identify a patient, such as geographic locators, names, date elements (except the year), cellphone, telephone and fax numbers, email, IP addresses (useful for identifying physical addresses), social security numbers, and medical record numbers, among others.

In conclusion, HIPAA Safe Harbor De-identification aims to de-identify specific PHI, allowing for other uses, such as competitive studies or relevant medical research.

References:

– HHS.gov (n.d). Summary of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/laws-regulations/index.html

– Compliancy Group (2020). What is the HIPAA Safe Harbor Provision? Retrieved from https://compliancy-group.com/what-is-the-hipaa-safe-harbor-provision/#:~:text=

– Sweeney, L., Too, J. & Brody, G. (2017). Re-identification Risks in HIPAA Safe Harbor Data: A Study of Data from one Environmental Health Study. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6344041/

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Essay