Unit 4 Assignment 1 IS3550

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996. The main purpose of this law was to improve the flow of health information. At this time, the great majority of the records were still in paper form, however there was a push for the healthcare industry to become digital. Prior to 1996, the only federal law that regulated the privacy of health information was the Privacy Act of 1974. Between 2003 and 2005, there were more than 13,000 privacy complaints, but no civil enforcement actions were brought by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In that same period, there was only one HIPAA criminal action, against a lab assistant who used the personal data of a terminal cancer patient for identity theft. By 2008, 33,000 + complaints had been filed with OCR, only about 8,000 were investigated with 5,600 leading to corrective action, yet no fines had been issued. Several key dates for HIPAA since then are: February 17, 2009- ARRAs HITECH Act Signed into Law. HIPAA revised to strengthen enforcement penalties, require breach notifications, and expand patient rights 2009OCR increases HIPAA Enforcement January 25, 2013- HITECHs HIPAA Modification Final Rule Release There is no single part of the HIPAA complaint form that should be singled out for attention, other than simplifying the form completion instructions. In the situation where every instructor Brandon ford Mr. Redmond 1-14-2015 IS3350 and all associated staff had access to the students health care records, Premier College is in direct violation of HIPAA.