Who needs to adhere to the compliancy regulations of this act?
HIPAA compliancy covers all healthcare providers, health plans, payers, clearing houses and any other entities that process health care data (Insurance firms, Legal firms). Also, any organization that electronically stores or transmits individually identified healthcare information must comply with the security regulations.
The date for Transactional Process compliance is October 16, 2002 and the date for Privacy Rule compliance is April 14, 2003. However, Small-Plan Institutions (defined by the SBA whose annual receipts total less than 5 million) have 12 additional months (October 16, 2003) to comply.
Why it is important to comply with this act?
Violations for noncompliance are severe:
- Fines of up to $25K for multiple violations of the same standard.
- Fines of up to $250K and 10 years imprisonment for knowing misuse of individually identifiable health information.
While the majority of the HIPAA rules are not final, stipulations for compliancy require significant effort on behalf of the healthcare organization, its vendors, and its and business associates. The standards affect the way a patient's data is stored, processed, retrieved and backed up. This act's regulations also enforce certain policy requirements that must be maintained onsite for compliancy. In addition, it stipulates certain procedures for Disaster Recovery Procedures, Unique Individual Identifiers, and Electronic Signatures. Without expert assistance this task can be overwhelming. Greenroom Technologies is here to help.
We have the experience to design and implement plans which will align your organization for HIPAA Compliancy. From Administrative Policy creation, to User Education and Evaluation, we will be able to assist in any aspect of the Compliancy that your institution may need.
To get your organization on track for HIPAA compliancy today, contact Greenroom Technologies.
To read more about HIPAA, HIPAA Fact Sheet, and HIPAA Advisory