HIPAA Policies and Procedures Medical Records privacy

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which is basically the federal law on medical privacy, which was made fully operational in 2003 is a measure to ensure that the information that the client shares with the health care facilities is given maximum privacy and security.

The HIPAA does not have very strict measures against the access of the information by the patents themselves. As long as the person can positively identify himself, then he will have access to the information that belongs to him. However, the restriction comes in when a second party wants to have access to your information. This has to be accompanied by an authorization form from HIPPA that must be signed by you as the owner of the information. The parents of an individual under the age of 18 years are however allowed to access information freely about their child, but beyond that, they have to get the authorization from the owner of the information (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse/UCAN., 2011). The other people, though close to you but are not allowed to access your medical records are your spouse, lawyer, parents and any relative, unless with the official authority from you.

There are circumstances however that may...

There are twelve elements that may warrant such a move as below (7Health Care Tips, 2011);
1) As may be required by law-there could be courts order to that effect, a statute or regulation compliance.

2) The records could be needed for public health activities.

3). The records could be used in solving cases regarding victims of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence hence the prior notice of the individual may not be required as this would be an investigation.

4) There could be Health oversight activities for instance the annual audits that may be allowed to use the personal information in the process of fulfilling that obligation.

5). There are cases of Judicial and Administrative Proceedings that could be going on and to help process the case objectively such medical records could be needed and extracted without prior notice.

6). The records can also be accessed for the purpose of law enforcement by the enforcing officers hence the prior permission may not be much of a prerequisite to accessing the information.

7). In the situations of death, the health information may be used to…