Book review: the ABCs of HIPAA compliance.TITLE: HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, Public Law 104-191) Also known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum Act," this U.S. law protects employees' health insurance coverage when they change or lose their jobs (Title I) and provides standards for patient health, Privacy Essentials and HIPAA Privacy Implementation Guide AUTHOR: Privacy Council ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m : 1-932214-04-60 (Essentials); 1-932214-05-4 (Implementation) PUBLISHER: Privacy Council PUBLICATION DATE: 2002 LENGTH: 373 pages and 452 pages PRICE: $169 U.S. SOURCE: ARMA International (www.arma.org/Bookstore) Healthcare and insurance organizations large and small are faced with the looming looming: see mirage. April 14, 2003, deadline to become HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families when )-compliant. If your organization is like many of those, it has only just begun, or perhaps hasn't begun, developing its HIPAA privacy program. Perhaps it has filed for an extension and now is wondering just what it should do. If this applies to your organization, one of the best things it can do is purchase the two-volume loose-leaf set HIPAA Privacy Essentials and HIPAA Privacy Implementation Guide, published by Privacy Council. This set is an A-to-Z HIPAA primer prim·er n. A segment of DNA or RNA that is complementary to a given DNA sequence and that is needed to initiate replication by DNA polymerase. that will get any organization or professional up to speed rapidly. Still clueless clue·less adj. Lacking understanding or knowledge. clueless Adjective Slang helpless or stupid Adj. 1. about just what the HIPAA fuss is all about, even at this late date? No problem. The Privacy Essentials volume introduces readers to HIPAA and its privacy rules, as well as to the large body of other privacy law that is out there waiting to trap the unwary. The volume walks users through the actual requirements of the HIPAA regulations, covering all the points that are essential to know if an organization wants to become HIPAA-complaint and what it must do to get there. It also contains handy reprints of the actual rules and informational materials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Noun 1. Department of Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Health and Human Services, HHS , as well as a glossary A term used by Microsoft Word and adopted by other word processors for the list of shorthand, keyboard macros created by a particular user. See glossaries in this publication and The Computer Glossary. and resource list. Privacy Essentials ensures readers are well-primed on HIPAA and ready to jump into the Implementation Guide, which takes up right where Privacy Essentials ends. The Implementation Guide walks readers through the entire process of setting up a HIPAA privacy program, from self-assessment and hiring a compliance officer, to implementation and training. For those wondering where they stand, the assessment is particularly valuable. It offers a series of questions on essential points and issues, and when an answer indicates possible trouble, it provides action items to ensure that you make the necessary changes. The implementation section is similarly detailed, covering many specific topics, many of which readers might have overlooked on their own unless they have a very sophisticated understanding of HIPAA and its implementation. The volume has many helping tools, from training slides to assessment worksheets and sample documents that will save many hours of work. Best of all, there's a CD containing an electronic version of the entire guide, including all the tools and sample documents in word-processing and spreadsheet spreadsheet Computer software that allows the user to enter columns and rows of numbers in a ledgerlike format. Any cell of the ledger may contain either data or a formula that describes the value that should be inserted therein based on the values in other cells. formats, making customization a snap. Virtually everything needed to self-assess, develop a program, and implement it are here and ready to go, along with clear and concise direction on how to proceed. Both volumes are written in an easy-to-read style that avoids excess jargon jargon, pejorative term applied to speech or writing that is considered meaningless, unintelligible, or ugly. In one sense the term is applied to the special language of a profession, which may be unnecessarily complicated, e.g., "medical jargon. and legalese legalese - Dense, pedantic verbiage in a language description, product specification, or interface standard; text that seems designed to obfuscate and requires a language lawyer to parse it. , making the reader's job of understanding privacy compliance much easier than wading through the regulations on his or her own. The coverage is comprehensive so even large, complex organizations can use this set to great advantage. The guides also cover specific subsets of the industry, such as mental health organizations. Small organizations may find the coverage too comprehensive, but they can skip the things that aren't relevant and hone in on what they need. What they won't skip are the tools and sample documents--these will be lifesavers for the small organization that doesn't have the resources to hire professionals to create these materials. Whether an organization is big and sophisticated, small and inexperienced in·ex·pe·ri·ence n. 1. Lack of experience. 2. Lack of the knowledge gained from experience. in , or anything in between, if HIPAA compliance is in its future, this set can help. If an organization is just beginning, hasn't yet begun, or especially if it isn't very knowledgeable about HIPAA and its privacy requirements, it should order a set. Even if an organization is well along in developing its compliance program, it is well worth the price if only to do a gap analysis and make sure it hasn't missed anything. It will save organizations and professionals a huge amount of work and stress and will help them develop a much sounder and more comprehensive program than they could develop on their own. John Montana, J.D., is a records management and legal consultant and principal of Montana and Associates. He may be contacted at johnmontana@qwestinternet.net. |
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