| Q:
Do the regulations of HIPAA's Health Information Privacy Rule have any impact
on SpectraSoft products?
Created: December 27,2002
Last Updated: June 10, 2003
A: Yes. The Health Information
Privacy Rule is part of HIPAA's Administrative Simplification Compliance
Act. This rule is intended to protect the confidentiality of medical records
and other personal health information and went into effect on April 14,
2003. This rule includes provisions to:
- Ensure reasonable safeguards
are in place to limit incidental use and disclosure of health information.
- Limit the use and release
of individually identifiable health information.
- Give patients the right
to access their medical records.
- Restrict most disclosure
of health information to the minimum needed for the intended purpose.
- Establish safeguards and
restrictions regarding disclosure of records for certain public responsibilities.
Reasonable Safeguards
A covered entity must have
in place appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards
that protect against uses and disclosures not permitted by the Privacy
Rule, as well as that limit incidental uses or disclosures. For example,
health care providers are encouraged to avoid using patient names in public
areas, isolate and lock file cabinets and record rooms, and provide additional
security, such as passwords, on computers maintaining personal health
information.
SpectraSoft AppointmentsPRO™
Version 8.0 and AppointmentsES™ incorporate user names and passwords
to avoid unauthorized access to the program. They also incorporate a privacy
feature that allows a user to temporarily remove patient information from
the screen with a single mouse click.
Minimum Necessary
Covered entities also must
implement reasonable minimum necessary policies and procedures that limit
how much protected health information is used, disclosed, and requested
for certain purposes. These minimum necessary policies and procedures
also reasonably must limit who within the entity has access to protected
health information, and under what conditions, based on job responsibilities
and the nature of the business.
SpectraSoft AppointmentsPRO
Version 8.0 and AppointmentsES incorporate user security profiles that
allow administrators to limit each user's access to only those areas and
features of the program that are necessary to perform their job responsibilities.
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