HIPAA RegulationsAngela MartinRunning head: ACTIVITY 7.6 1ACTIVITY 7.6 6United States UniversityHIPAA Regulations

SUBMIT a summary of how your facility protects patient information according to the HIPAA regulations.

This research paper discusses the focus of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which caters to the rights of patients to confidentiality and the right of patient to get access to relevant information. These rights can craft an environment which can support and facilitate collaboration between health care providers, families and patients. More over HIPAA has raised awareness at national level and brought many crucial issues in limelight which should be catered by the medical practitioners who are involved in care delivery.

Patient Rights and Protections under HIPAAFrom the point of view of family and patient centered care, the most significant rights are:

Disclosure accountingPatients have the right that they should be given a maintained record of the disclosure of their personal medical information for any purpose by a health provider, health system, or any other entity for the purpose of health care operations, payment and treatment.

Right to complainPatients have the right to protest to medical entities and also to the Department Civil Rights, namely, Health and Human Services. The notion that effected parties possess this type choices is an effective depiction of the desire of state to make sure that medical facilities are always receptive to the concerns of patient

Request for amendmentsThe patient has the right to object and amendment if he/she finds that the information is inaccurate or incomplete (Lorig, & Holman, 2003). The particular health system should react to the request of the patient for amendment and look into its validity.

Request for restrictionsPatients have the right to ask for particular add on limitations which are for the purpose of enhancing the confidentiality of the sensitive medical information of the patient. For instance any particular patient can ask for limitations on how particular information will be revealed to the friends or family of the patient (Fina, et.al. 1997).

Access to medical recordsHIPAA is the initiator of the provisions which was incurred nationwide and which dealt with the notion that patients will have a guaranteed access of their particular information and records. The particular patient can ask for a copy of their medical records.

Confidential communication Patients have the right to inquire from their doctors, and involved individuals to go for sensible steps to make sure that the communications of the patient and doctor are kept confidential. For instance, a patient might ask that his/her confidential information should not be send to her/his house or it should not be recorded (National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, 2003).

Objectives of HIPAAThe notion of family and patient centered care and HIPAA possess the following objectives: To improve the experience of care of patient. To enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of care given to patient. To enhance the rights of patient. To strengthen and restore the level of trust among health care professionals, families and patients.

Patient and Family Participation on Hospital CouncilsIn the overview of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and by taking a closer look at its prominence on regarding the privacy of patient, various medical facilities have depicted apprehension about the crucial participation of families and patients in different review committees and many other hospital boards, for instance those which cater to risk management, patient safety and quality. The relevant committee members have a legal motive to witness the data of the patient in the pathway of their domains. An important method to make certain that the medical facility comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is to make certain that all the relevant committee members which include family members and patients and also the workers, they all are supposed to go through HIPAA employee trainings.Certain medical facilities accomplish such training practices under the guidance of the relevant department of volunteer services. Further more, it is suitable to possess a speaker of health care practitioner in advance along with every possible committee or council member and to elucidate the privacy regulations of HIPAA and their relevant compulsion, which deals with the notion that should they turn out to be a family or patient advisor. In a Institute of Cancer named, Dana-Farber, the advisors of family and patient entertain training of HIPAA. In these trainings there are certain committees for instance, Risk Management Committee, board-level Quality, etc. These particular committees fully take part in the debate over the analysis of root cause and its conclusions from the investigation of event of near misses and errors .The leaders in medical facilities narrate that advisors of families and patients eagerly comprehend the significance of protection privacy of the data and information of patients and do not pretend as a risk in contravene of privacy.

Education and Training of Health ProfessionalsMany medical facilities are carrying out in-house trainings to notify their present employees about HIPAAs provisions and importance, medical facilities should also take initiatives to incorporate this type of training into relevant educational programs and workshops for their health (Science Daily, 2005). The allocation of PHI is a very important and crucial part of overall experience for trainees, patients and students in the domain of health in medical facilities and their relevant allied community programs. The purpose of HIPAA is not to get in the way of the process of sharing information. Side by side, to make sure that compliance is gained with provisions of HIPAA, faculty, trainees and students should be well-versed about guiding principles which are in relevance to patient security, privacy and information.Faculty, trainees, students and staff should also be given training and should be kept responsible for being committed towards family and patient centered care which is the significance of passing on reverence to the family and patient, work together with the patient and their family, enhancing the participation of patients as a health care team and sharing unbiased and complete information with the patient and his/her family in a compassionate manner.

New Opportunities for CollaborationThe Patients and families convey a very significant point of view for the purpose of implementing HIPAA. Both patients and their families can take part in task forces and committees. They can help with the provisions of Notice of Privacy Practices for instance they can help out medical practitioners is communicating, distributing, posting and formatting of the Notice of Privacy Practices. Families and Patients can be allies in their efforts for training which are in relevance to HIPAA (Hiatt, 2003). Both can support trainees, students and staff to comprehend the significance of confidentiality and privacy, right to use to the particular medical record of patient, and they can also take part in decision-making.As the health care providers and practitioners become more relaxed with HIPAAs provisions, they might make out methods to make use of it to supplementary enhance care. For instance, saying that patients might request or ask for amendments in their particular medical records is quite admirable (Ness, 2007). But on the other hand it would be more constructive to encourage and persuade patients to become implicated in the development phase of their particular records so chances of amendments are reduced. As medical facilities and hospitals achieve enhancing understanding with incorporating the family and patient centered notions with the rightful implementation of the provisions of HIPAA, they will without a doubt discover many novel synergies among these two domains and build up efficient strategies for making sure that information in accessed in appropriate manner and measures are taken to protect privacy.