Washington Pediatrics and HIPPA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996 (HIPAA) became law on August 21, 1996. HIPAA is also
known as:
- Public Law 104-191 (H.R. 3103)
- The Kennedy Kassebaum bill
The U.S. Congress passed HIPAA to:
- improve portability and continuity of health
insurance coverage in the group and individual markets;
- combat waste, fraud, and abuse in health insurance and health care
delivery;
- promote the use of medical care savings accounts; and
simplify the administration of health insurance.
HIPAA is not only about
ensuring the continuation of health insurance for individuals
changing employment, but it is about protecting the privacy of
patient records and any other patient identifiable information in
any form.
Today, health plans, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories, doctors
and other health care entities use a wide array of systems to
process and track health care bills and other information. Providers
treat patients with many different types of health insurance and
must spend time and money ensuring that each claim contains the
format, codes, and other details required by each insurer.
Congress included provisions in HIPAA to require the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) to adopt national standards for
certain electronic health care transactions, codes, identities, and
security. Additionally, HIPAA will result in e-business initiatives
that will substantially reduce the costs of processing medical
claims and transactions. One of the HIPAA goals is to provide
national standards for consistent data format for health care
transactions.
HIPAA also set a three year deadline for Congress to enact
comprehensive policy legislation to protect medical records and
other personal health information. Security and Privacy standards
can promote higher quality care by assuring consumers that their
personal health information will be protected from inappropriate
uses and disclosures.
HIPAA is a defining standard for how the health care industry will
handle patient medical records and payment information in an
efficient, private, and secure manner.