What Are The HIPAA Regulations For Nursing Homes And Nurses

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) recognizes nursing homes as covered entities where protected information of patients is stored and transmitted electronically. Adequate steps need to be taken by these organizations to safeguard the confidential medical information of patients. This will ensure that no unauthorized access to this information takes place.

The security and privacy rules of HIPAA need to be followed and this will ensure that the health care information of patients is not accessed by anyone other than the patient and the physician. The privacy rules of HIPAA stipulate that written permission should be provided by the patient for access of their medical records.

Apart from doctors, nurses play a critical role in the treatment process of a patient and this puts them into direct contact with the confidential information of patients. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act recognize nurses too as covered entities and they must take all steps to ensure that the medical records are safeguarded.

There are usually hundreds of records of patients that are transmitted electronically and if there are not enough safeguards, there are chances that this might be misused.

Top 5 HIPAA Regulations For Nurses And Nursing Homes

1. Nurses usually have access to medical charts of patients, treatment plans, prescriptions, lab reports and any other information that is crucial for the treatment of patients. They will not only be accessing this information but also transmitting and storing them electronically and this would mean that they have to follow all the compliance rules of HIPAA.


2. If a nurse wants access to any specific medical record they should have a valid reason for that and would require permission from the patient.


3. The protected information of the patient should not be disclosed to anyone by the nurses. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibit any such disclosure and there are stringent penalties imposed if there is any violation.


4. HIPAA also prohibit nurses from passing any unauthorized information to insurance companies. If a patient is denied any medical care due to the result of information been passed by the nurses to the insurance companies then the nurses might even lose their job.


5. Even school nurses who are working in universities or other educational institutions will be covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This will mean that they will need to comply with all the provisions of HIPAA.

The protected information of patients is not just transmitted and stored electronically but it is also maintained as physical records. These physical records must be kept in a safe and secure place so that any unauthorized access is prevented.

All nursing homes and nurses who have access to the protected information of patients will need to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. There should be guidelines within the organization that lay down rules and regulations on how this confidential information is used and accessed. There should also be compliance reviews that should be conducted by these organizations so that checks and counter checks can be put into place.