It has now been more than a decade since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Omnibus Rule, enacted in 2013 with effect on March 26 and compliance on 23 September, has had significant implications for healthcare organizations in terms of ensuring the protection of patient privacy and their health information. This rule issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) reflects the movement to facilitate the competing interests and rights of individuals in public health (Goldstein & Pewen, 2013). This paper enlists a few of the important implications implemented under the HIPAA Omnibus Act of 2013, what organizations were affected, and why compliance was important in healthcare organizations.
Background
Confidentiality and privacy are the two main factors of public health information that have always been critical aspects of the care industry. However, no comprehensive laws and legislations were introduced and implemented until the enactment of the HIPAA Compliance Omnibus Rule 2013. Pursuant to HIPAA Omnibus Rule, healthcare organizations were required to implement stricter standards and rules for maintaining, securing, and disclosing patient health information.
Implications, Examples, and Solutions
Some of the major implications of the HIPAA Omnibus Act 2013 include:
Expanded Coverage
The rule expanded the scope of HIPAA to include not only care providers in the healthcare organizations but also individuals who handle protected information such as healthcare providers’ downstream vendors and business associates related to the field of healthcare in the United States.
Increased Accountability
The Omnibus Rule placed a greater responsibility on the care providers to ensure that their associates were also compliant with HIPAA guidelines. In addition, they were to make sure that they hold their associates accountable for safeguarding patient privacy and health information.
Stronger Enforcement and Penalties
The rule introduced stronger enforcement mechanisms and penalties for healthcare providers being non-compliant with the HIPAA Omnibus Act and for breaches of protected health information. These penalties are for violations of regulations under the HIPAA Act regarding patient privacy and health information safety and security (Goldstein & Pewen, 2013).
Compliance is of paramount significance in the field of healthcare as it ensures the security and safety of patients’ sensitive information related to their health. One area where lack of compliance with HIPAA could have significant consequences in the workplace is a data breach which occurs due to unauthorized access to protected health information of the patients in a healthcare organization. This usually occurs when there are inadequate security measures in place to protect patient health records. Moreover, solutions to comply with new regulations under the Omnibus Act include implementing stricter rules for security, disclosure, privacy, and device usage. These changes in the regulations aim to ensure that individuals’ data is adequately protected, safe, and secure in a healthcare environment.
Summary
The organizations under the 2013 Omnibus Act were healthcare organizations such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, healthcare cleaning houses, health plans, and clinics were majorly affected as these organizations had to comply with the new regulations outlined in HIPAA 2013 Act. The rules and regulations healthcare organizations were supposed to comply with were protecting privacy practices, obtaining patient consent for disclosure of their health information, and training staff in the care facilities. Moreover, implementing policies to minimize the risk of patient information disclosure, and providing patients certain rights regarding their health information are the rules that aim to reduce the frequency of medical data breaches (Bendix, 2013). The major implication of the HIPAA Omnibus Act of 2013 was that it expanded the scope of individuals and organizations related to the field of healthcare that are subject to HIPAA regulations (Yaraghi & Gopal, 2018). Now, after a decade of its implementation, not only care providers but also their business associates are required to comply with regulations as mandated by HIPAA. This expansion has increased the accountability and responsibility of healthcare organizations in coverage to safeguard protected health information.
References
Bendix, J. (2013). What the HIPAA Omnibus rule means for your practice. Contemporary OB/GYN, 58(6), 34.
Goldstein, M. M., & Pewen, W. F. (2013). The HIPAA Omnibus Rule: Implications for public health policy and practice. Public Health Reports, 128(6), 554–558.
Yaraghi, N., & Gopal, R. D. (2018). The role of HIPAA omnibus rules in reducing the frequency of medical data breaches: Insights from an empirical study. The Milbank Quarterly, 96(1), 144–166.
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