When HIPAA was enacted in 2002 it meant a major change for the medical industry and how things were done. There were a lot of stipulations with the act and it was not easy for organizations to comply at first. With the help of HIPAA consulting services however things got better and pretty soon all offices were integrated into the system.
When it first hit the administration desks at hospitals even before the bill became a law, some hospital administrators did what they could with what limited information they had to try and prepare for what was to come. They unfortunately did not have enough information to really do anything except maybe discuss what was to come.
The privacy rights of each and every patient would be front and center and would become one of the most important pieces of information dealt with during the registration process. Hospitals and medical offices even went as far as to have individual patients sign a document stating that they were indeed given their privacy rights paperwork. No hospital staffer wanted to be caught off guard.
The fines levied against medical offices that did not comply with the laws of the act were heavy. No one wanted to have to pay one of those. Aside from the fines, it was a time when scrutiny of hospitals was at a high level and every one wanted their medical centers to be rated with positive marks, not negative ones. Especially when it comes to the rights of the patients.
Patient rights is a very important factor in where government funding goes and where the community decides to go for their medical needs. When these HIPAA laws became effective the places that were prepared were able to hit the ground running and get their staff under control and trained on how to properly administer the new paperwork.
It shouldn't have been too hard. Most of what was changed was just having people sign in a couple new places because they would now be in full control of their records where as in the past the doctors seemingly had more control than anyone. With the new system no one could see anything from a patients records without their say so.
Many of the policies that did not deal directly with the patient records and how they can be accessed were regarding the best practices or the proper ways for thing to take place. Like the aforementioned patient paging and medical charts. Other systems include sign in sheets for handing out HIPAA forms, keeping other documents confidential, and a system to alert staff to changes made in a record.
This and other methods of getting the information they need were some of the changes that took place when the new act became a law. The HIPAA consulting agencies that worked with many of the hospitals and medical offices did wonderful things when it came to helping them fall in line and get what they needed to be compliant with the laws. If it was not for some of these agencies coming around when they did there would be some offices that went out of business due to fines.
When it first hit the administration desks at hospitals even before the bill became a law, some hospital administrators did what they could with what limited information they had to try and prepare for what was to come. They unfortunately did not have enough information to really do anything except maybe discuss what was to come.
The privacy rights of each and every patient would be front and center and would become one of the most important pieces of information dealt with during the registration process. Hospitals and medical offices even went as far as to have individual patients sign a document stating that they were indeed given their privacy rights paperwork. No hospital staffer wanted to be caught off guard.
The fines levied against medical offices that did not comply with the laws of the act were heavy. No one wanted to have to pay one of those. Aside from the fines, it was a time when scrutiny of hospitals was at a high level and every one wanted their medical centers to be rated with positive marks, not negative ones. Especially when it comes to the rights of the patients.
Patient rights is a very important factor in where government funding goes and where the community decides to go for their medical needs. When these HIPAA laws became effective the places that were prepared were able to hit the ground running and get their staff under control and trained on how to properly administer the new paperwork.
It shouldn't have been too hard. Most of what was changed was just having people sign in a couple new places because they would now be in full control of their records where as in the past the doctors seemingly had more control than anyone. With the new system no one could see anything from a patients records without their say so.
Many of the policies that did not deal directly with the patient records and how they can be accessed were regarding the best practices or the proper ways for thing to take place. Like the aforementioned patient paging and medical charts. Other systems include sign in sheets for handing out HIPAA forms, keeping other documents confidential, and a system to alert staff to changes made in a record.
This and other methods of getting the information they need were some of the changes that took place when the new act became a law. The HIPAA consulting agencies that worked with many of the hospitals and medical offices did wonderful things when it came to helping them fall in line and get what they needed to be compliant with the laws. If it was not for some of these agencies coming around when they did there would be some offices that went out of business due to fines.
About the Author:
Read more about How HIPAA Consulting Saved The Medical Industry visiting our website.
0 comments:
Enregistrer un commentaire