HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) has four primary objectives:

• Health insurance portability
• Reduction in healthcare fraud and abuse
• Enforce health information standards
• Guarantee security and privacy of health information

As a clinical information systems provider, Clinical Computing is dedicated to helping our customers comply with HIPAA’s requirements as they relate to the electronic collection, storage, and transmission of protected health information.    We have established a team of individuals with backgrounds in medical records administration to develop strategies for compliance with HIPAA standards. 

The sophisticated technology of Clinical Vision can ensure security through the use of access controls, audit trails and user authentication.  Levels of access to patient information can be set according to roles or by individual user.  Audit trails are tracked to the field level with a record of changes and who made them maintained in log format.  User authentication is managed through the use of unique user names and passwords.  Transmission of data must be protected while traveling over open networks such as the Internet. 

HIPAA also establishes standards for electronic transactions and designated code sets.   Transaction format, data elements and data content standards have been developed by the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASC X12) and the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP).  Code set standards include the following:

• ICD-9 for diseases;
• CPT-4 for services and procedures;
• HCPCS for medical equipment, injectable drugs and transportation services;
• CDT for dental services;
• NDC Codes for prescription drugs.

Coding software from a market leader in that arena is embedded in Clinical Vision.  Updates can be performed electronically, assuring accuracy of data entry on a timeframe managed by the clinic.

HIPAA compliant security can be achieved when technological security measures are implemented in conjunction with strong policies, procedures and practices, ensuring the privacy and security of patient health information in an electronic-based healthcare environment.

References and Websites:

Federal Register 45 CRF Part 142

Federal Register 45 CFR Parts 160 and 162

DHHS
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa

Medicaid HIPAA home page
http://www.hcfa.gov/medicaid/hipaa

HCFA Admin Simplification Links
http://www.hcfa.gov/medicare/edi/hipaaedi.htm

Washington Publishing Company
http://www.wpc-edi.com/HIPAA 40.asp

Phoenix Health Systems
http://www.hipaadvisory.com

The Federal Register
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html

AHIMA
http://www.ahima.org