HIPPA and Encryption Technology

HIPPA and Encryption Technology

Lab 3.1a

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) website helps organizations and companies address healthcare issues by providing relevant information about these illnesses. For instance, the website outlines the social determinants of health, such as healthcare access and quality, economic stability, social and community context, education access and quality, and neighborhood and built environment (Kim & Solomon, 2016). Each of these social determinants of health is explicitly enumerated within the website to foster healthcare providers’ understanding of these aspects and help them comprehend how to deal with them (Kim & Solomon, 2016). The website also has a healthcare information technology jobs center that enables organizations to evaluate the expertise of healthcare providers before engaging them in any duties.

Upon reviewing the healthcare reform website, it was evident that it used predictive analytics and EHR data for the early detection of Sepsis. Under this healthcare reform, the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA) was bequeathed the responsibility of detecting Sepsis early enough among patients. MNGHA serves 1.3 million people, including Saudi National Guard service members and their families. The organization boasts a 3,720-bed capacity, and within each fiscal year, it attends to at least 3.2 million patients. Furthermore, MNGHA has over 13,000 multi-specialty physicians, nurses, and allied healthcare providers drawn from over 50 nations globally (Kim & Solomon, 2016). It should be noted that sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body is characterized by a highly inflammatory response to an infection, leading to multiple failures in the functioning of organs. This condition claims about 11 million people globally each year, with long-term disability among those who survive its detrimental effects.

Lab 3.1b

The logging and audit requirements include but are not limited to HIPAA/HITECH, FTC Red Flag Rules, 21 CFR Part 11, 42 CFR Part 2, and Data security standards. However, the requirement that was evaluated further was that of HIPAA/HITECH. Part of the HIPAA requirements that drove the logging and auditing requirements included audit controls, HER certification, breach notification, risk management, and meaningful use. The other logging and audit requirements included third-party security audits, account management reviews, and data retention policies. On the other hand, privacy vs. security auditing entailed the following components: internal threats, privacy violations, network/system security, and network log management (Kim & Solomon, 2016). Lastly, some challenges experienced while executing these requirements include more data elements, integration, functionality, and data mapping.

Lab 3.1c

The website was composed of five sections, namely, the accessibility of health information by the patient, the use of health data, keeping the patient’s information secure, finding resources for consumers, and connecting with health IT stakeholders. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology addressed the common questions patients had regarding health information upon their visit to healthcare facilities.

Lab 3.1d

After reviewing the HIPAA security rules, I established that they apply to all health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and any healthcare provider involved in transmitting healthcare information via electronic form. Additionally, protected information is identifiable healthcare information related to patients who were received, transmitted, or maintained in electronic form (Kim & Solomon, 2016). This information type is called electronically protected health information (ePHI). The general rules that ensure the protection of e-PHI include the healthcare providers ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all ePHI, protecting the information against any security threats, and ensuring effective transmission and disclosure of information.

Lab 3.1e

The general principle of uses and disclosures falls into two major categories: the basic principle and the required disclosures. The basic principle prohibits an entity from disclosing protected health information except if the privacy rule permits or the individual authorizes the disclosure in writing. On the other hand, required disclosures can only be undertaken when the patient’s personal representative requests access to the patient’s protected health information or when HHS is undertaking a compliance investigation action (Kim & Solomon, 2016). Besides these, authorization may not be required if the healthcare providers need to administer treatment of healthcare operations, public interest, or limited data set for research and public health purposes.

Lab 3.2

The process for obtaining and documenting information required to perform a HIPAA compliance audit is a six-step process. The first phase entails providing HIPAA training for employees to reduce the probability of the audit failing. The civil rights office should develop policies that prioritize training and education. The training phase is then followed by creating a risk management plan and conducting a risk evaluation. A risk management plan involves preparing security documents by ensuring that state reports are recorded, written, and stored in an easily accessible location (Trinckes, 2012). On the other hand, risk analysis entails presenting documents that cover incident response, IT, and firewalls with physical security. The third step would entail selecting a security assessment and privacy officer (Trinckes, 2012). This individual will be obligated to ensure that the efforts being undertaken meet the developed regulations.

The fourth step will entail reviewing the policy implementation to understand how these procedures apply to daily business operations. If employees need help adhering to the policy developed, take some time to identify problems and make the necessary adjustments. It is also here that the implementation schedule is created. Fifthly, an internal audit ensures that problems are identified before the OCR audit. Early identification of problems serves to offload the pressure the implementing team may face (Trinckes, 2012). Working with a third-party organization in this stage may help identify problems that did not appear during the internal risk assessment. The last phase is creating an internal remediation plan that ensures that the internal audit is limited to the policies and procedures of the business (Trinckes, 2012). The remediation plan focuses on the internal processes and ensures that the business is on the right track concerning compliance measures.

References

Kim, D., & Solomon, M. G. (2016). Fundamentals of Information Systems Security: Print Bundle. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Trinckes Jr, J. J. (2012). The definitive guide to complying with the HIPAA/HITECH privacy and security rules. CRC Press.

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HIPPA and Encryption Technology

standards and encryption technologies to ensure confidentiality of electronic protected health information (ePHI) transmission.