Authorization To Release Medical Information Hipaa Compliant: Fill & Download for Free

Since it was enacted in 1996 by the United States government, The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has enforced strict penalties for organizations who fail to provide data privacy and provisions towards safeguarding medical information. More specifically, it demands that the Department of Human Services and Health in the U.S. (HHS) create regulations that protect both the security and privacy of health information. In order to make these regulations more manageable by both government and private organizations, HHS published the HIPAA Security Rule and HIPAA Privacy rule. However, sometimes this act can be split up into four different rules;HIPAA Privacy RuleHIPAA Security RuleHIPPA Enforcement RuleHIPAA Breach Notification RuleHIPAA SECURITY RULE KEY DATESAugust 14, 2002 - Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule – Final RuleMarch 27, 2002 - Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule – Proposed RuleFebruary 28, 2001 - Request for Comments on December 28, 2000, Final HIPAA Privacy RuleFebruary 26, 2001 - Correction of Effective and Compliance Dates of the Final HIPAA Privacy RuleDecember 29, 2000 - Technical Corrections to the Final HIPAA Privacy RuleDecember 28, 2000 - HIPAA Privacy Rule – Final RuleNovember 3, 1999 - HIPAA Privacy Rule – Proposed RuleLearn about the Rulemaking History of the HIPAA Enforcement Rule, 45 CFR Part 160, Subparts C, D, and E.March 20, 2003 - Notice of Addresses for Submission of HIPAA Health Information Privacy Complaints (PDF - PDF)March 11, 2003 - Notice of Address for Submission of Requests for Preemption Exception Determinations (PDF - PDF)December 28, 2000 - Statement of Delegation of Authority to the Office for Civil Rights (PDF - PDF)August 12, 1998 – Security and Electronic Signature Standards - Proposed RuleFebruary 20, 2003 – Security Standards – Final RuleAugust 3, 2009 – View the Delegation of Authority Press ReleaseAugust 4, 2009 – Federal Register notice of the Delegation of Authority to OCR (74 FR 38630)

Medical records have to be HIPAA compliant. Among other requirements, HIPAA requires specific authorization for release of records. In the case of electronic medical records, the patient has to consent to gain access.Legally, unemancipated minors can't give consent. (Their parents must consent on their behalf.) This means minors cannot access their own medical records for the most part. However, age of adulthood is a state’s decision. And most states have maid certain exceptions in the law giveing teenagers athority over certain aspects of their own medical care. In practice, this means a teen can seek treatment for STDs and (provided their parents don't see the insurance statement) they can hide the fact from their parents.In order to both comply with HIPAA (federal law) and state laws, electronic medical records would have to let parent only access part of the record and/or teens only access part of the record. The system cannot do that, the medical data isn't divided up that way. However, a human can be trained on state laws and HIPAA and give out information to the authorized person based on what information is being requested.

You test your processes (inputs and outputs) that are related to HIPAA. For example, if you're a medical office that requires a HIPAA compliant authorization on file before you release protected [patient] health information. Well what does that mean?It means that the medical office's authorization form must be HIPAA compliant, and HIPAA tells you what you need to have in the form at minimum.The authorization must be properly completed, signed, and dated.You need to store it safely so you can review it before you release information.It shouldn't be expired, and you definitely shouldn't release PHI when the authorization is expired because you would have violated HIPAA. It's an unauthorized disclosure.You want to make sure the authorization is in the right medical record or related to the right patient. You may think — “why wouldn't it? — but you'd be surprised. It happens more than you think. And, you can't delete it; it's just an error in the medical record. Healthcare organizations violate the regulation daily by deleting the information — just so you know.You would check all of the points above, and it would be a form (very very limited form) of testing HIPAA compliance. You would typically not do it yourself because there's a lot of work. It's easier to hire someone who knows what they're doing; they'll be more efficient and accurate, and save you time and money.I hope this helps.