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The Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by
Congress to improve the efficiency of the healthcare
system by standardizing electronic data interchange
and to protect the confidentiality and security of
health data.
HIPAA affects virtually all health care
providers, health plans, public health authorities,
health care clearinghouses, and self-insured
employers, as well as life insurers, information
systems vendors, various service organizations, and
universities.
All health care organizations that maintain or
transmit electronic health information must comply
by April 2005. Under HIPAA, hospitals and
health care providers must ensure that they control
access to proprietary health information, as well as
monitor and report on security events.
Colleton Software protects patient data from
unauthorized access and prevents unauthorized
employees from launching patient data files or
hacking tools to gain access to restricted
information. On December 28, 2000, the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) published the final
Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable
Health Information under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The goals of the HIPAA Policy are to:
Protect the privacy of the patient by protecting
their data.
Focus healthcare providers with the importance of
security and privacy.
Create a common set of standards for securing such
data, whether on paper or electronically Improve
efficiencies within the healthcare industry.
Require efficiencies and security in the transfer of
patient information.
Specifically, the Department of Health and Human
Services states in the Preamble to the Privacy
Standards that the regulations are being instituted
to:
1 - Protect and enhance the rights of consumers.
2 - Improve the quality of the healthcare system and
restoring trust back in this system.
3 - Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
healthcare delivery.
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