HIPAA

What you'll learn

Course overview

Discussion of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), including basic concepts, which pieces of information are identified as protected health information (PHI), instances when a provider can override HIPAA, which patient rights are covered under HIPAA, the impact of social medial on patient privacy, and methods to prevent HIPAA violations which can occur on social media. HIPAA is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patients consent or knowledge. The HIPAA Privacy Rule was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to implement the requirements of HIPAA. A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to ensure that individuals health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high-quality healthcare, and to protect the publics health and well-being. Nurses and other healthcare professionals must be aware of HIPAA rules to ensure patient privacy, as well as what constitutes a HIPAA violation, as there are serious penalties that may be incurred as a result of violating HIPAA. This program discusses basic concepts of HIPAA, protected health information (PHI), instances when a provider can override HIPAA, patient rights that are covered under HIPAA, the impact of social medial on patient privacy, and methods to prevent HIPAA violations which can occur on social media.