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Health Management Associates is a Naples-based for-profit hospital chain that owns 71 hospitals, 23 of which are in Florida (newspress). There have been many whistleblowers within the company that have brought allegations against HMA for focusing on the profits of the company over the proper medical attention of patients. In August 2013, the major shareholder of HMA, Glenview Capital Management LLC, with about 9.6% of stocks lead to the complete removal of the board of directors. There is currently a merger occurring in which HMA will go under another for-profit hospital chain company called Community Health Systems which will form the second largest for-profit hospital chain by revenue (nytimes). Glenview also pushed for this (fierce). The Department of Justice is backing many of those who have reported claims through qui tam cases. The CEO, Gary D. Newsome, left the company a few months ago to lead a mission trip, but is currently part of the cases as well. Several of the lawsuits point to Newsome as the inventor of the strategy used to raise admissions to emergency rooms (nytimes). The idea here is that the company gives incentives to the doctors to admit more patients to the emergency room to meet a quota. There are reports of the company using a software called Pro Med to keep scorecards for the doctors. The goal is to admit at least half of the patients over 65 that visit, the scorecards have the doctors highlighted in different colors: green for on target, yellow for those who were close, and red for doctors that were failing. Jacqueline Myers, a worker for the company that hires the doctors used by HMA, reported that she received the order to fire the doctors and red, but said no followed by being fired (nytimes). A CFO in a Georgia branch of HMA did a separate investigation of the admission rates and found them to be higher compared to other hospitals.…
1. How does HIPPA serve to protect patient rights? A patient’s health information can be shared with doctors and hospitals for treatment and care. The information can also be shared with family members who the patient has given permission to access the patient’s records. HIPPA’s guidelines make clear exactly what information about patients is protected. Called PHI, this information includes anything that would identify a patient, from name, Social Security numbers and addresses to broader identifiers like race, age and home state. Information about the person’s health care needs or medical history is also considered PHI.…
According to the laws concerning HIPAA where it pertains to serving and protecting patients’ rights, HIPAA is put into place to protect patient rights by not allowing any medical professional to discuss a patients prognosis, symptoms or any other specifics regarding their care with another individual not directly involved with their case. Because of this, a patient’s identity and confidential information is kept that way. Violations are punishable by law.…
The HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules benefit and support the integrity of the healthcare industry, patients, and physicians by supplying the patient with the Notice of Privacy Practices before care is administered. It gives the patient all the pertinent information on how the information in their medical records will be used and shared along with the rights they have to the record. If there are any questions or if the patient feels like the confidentiality of their protected health information has been breached; there is a number contained in the notice for the patient to pose a formal complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Also, by allowing patient access to their medical records to confirm the accuracy of the record and revise…
| HIPAA Rules(1)Privacy Rules: According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information and applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and those health care providers that conduct certain health care transactions electronically. It’s important because the Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures that may be made of such information without patient authorization. This rule impacts the staff by: Not sharing the information with others who have no need to know, including co-workers, family members or friends, minimizing opportunities for patient information to be overheard by others, never sharing passwords, disposing of information containing PHI properly such as shredding paper files(2)Security Rules: The HIPAA Security Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ electronic personal health information that is created, received, used, or maintained by a covered entity. The Security Rule is important because it requires appropriate administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronic protected health information. It impacts the organization by forcing the healthcare industry to adopt uniform electronic transaction standards for…
The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives the patient’s rights to all information documented concerning them. Whether on paper or electronic, the patient have the rights to their medical records, get correction made if any mistakes are found, informed if the doctor use or give his/her information to anyone, to see where they contact you, and to complain if needed to OCR website www.hhs.gov/ocr.…
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA privacy rule was passed by congress in August of 2002. According to Understanding Health Information Privacy (2014), "The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides federal protections for individually identifiable health information held by covered entities and their business associates and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.” The Security Rule specifies a sequence of administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for covered entities and their business associates to use to assure the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of electronic protected health information (Understanding Health Information Privacy, 2014). The HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, tutorials are a memento that there is continuous need for progress on the part of health care professionals and individuals. There is a strong need among health care professionals to know the guidelines, rules and regulations to stay within the laws set onward by the federal government.…
Congress intended HIPAA to protect individually identifiable health information. Any entity, including a physician's office, a hospital or other health care facility, or an insurer that deals with personal health information must follow strict rules about how to handle that information to avoid disclosing it to someone not authorized to see it. For example, Health and Human Services allows physicians and insurance companies to exchange individually identifiable health information to pay a health claim, but would not allow them to release it publicly. Penalties for violating the regulations include civil fines of up to $50,000 per violation, according to Health and Human Services.…
In 1996, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into legislation. HIPAA provides patients with access to their medical records and gives patients more control over the handling and distribution of their personal health information (PHI). HIPAA regulations are extremely important in ensuring the privacy of PHI and helps reduce any fraudulent activity. By fully following HIPAA regulations, healthcare compliant facilities are more likely to save money by avoiding lawsuits and fines. Facilities covered by HIPAA are required to implement safeguards (both physical and technical) to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the patient’s health information.…
HIPAA defines as criminal the use or disclosure (by individuals or institutions) of confidential medical information of a patient for any other purposes than treatment, payment, or health care operations. Such violations carry fines and/or imprisonment (Privacy, Security, and Confidentiality).…
There are many cultural considerations that a medical assistant needs to be aware of when addressing issues related to the female reproductive system. Some of these considerations are: believes and practices of religion, values, and even the attitudes of the people with different cultures. The most important thing that a medical assistant should avoid is offending the patient and make it seem as if they are judging them. Everyone has different beliefs and that is perfectly fine. Medical assistant just need to remember that no patient is the same, for example: some cultures forbid communication about reproductive issues with a particular gender. As an MA, it is their job to make sure the patient is cared for and to just give them the support…
First, the HIPAA Privacy Rule: officially known as the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, establishes national standards to protect patient health information. This rule limits the use and disclosure of sensitive PHI (Protected Health Information). It seeks to protect the privacy of patients by requiring doctors to provide patients…
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was created to develop regulations to protect the privacy and security of certain health information; which shouldn’t be accessible to individuals without the need to know. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for HIPAA compliance within the Privacy Rule as well as the Security Rule. This Privacy Rule develops national standards for protecting certain health information while the Security Rule establishes a national set of security standards for protecting specific health information that is held or transferred in electronic form.…
Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandated the adoption of privacy and security protection for identifiable health information. This particular privacy rule has been implemented throughout the healthcare industry. The HIPAA privacy rule also protects all health information in a medical organization such as medical records and lab reports. In addition, security rule is limited in range and focuses primarily on electronic protected health information.…
Patient care has been vulnerable by HIPAA; healthcare providers cannot easily share patient’s information. Each patient or power of attorney must give implied permission for a healthcare provider to share any personal information. Deprived of not being able to share patient information between providers, it takes longer time to get critical information that can affect patient care. Healthcare organizations faces supplementary legal costs if they violate HIPAA privacy provisions. These costs make many organizations careful of sharing a patient information, even if the patient has given permission for information sharing, so that’s why everything has to be documented, initial, and signed.…