If you are a provider in the healthcare industry, then chances are that an essential part of your job involves interacting with patients and their protected health information (PHI). Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), strict rules dictate how PHI must be handled, used, stored, transmitted, etc.
Failure to abide by the rules can result in criminal penalties and a host of other negative repercussions, making HIPAA compliancy in Anchorage, AK essential.
What Is HIPAA?
HIPAA is a United States federal law that was created to protect the privacy of an individual’s personal health information (PHI). It also mandates how this PHI must be handled by all parties involved, including the patient.
What Does Anchorage, AK’s HIPAA Law Require?
There are many rules that apply to healthcare providers and how they handle and protect PHI. Alaska’s HIPAA law states that any healthcare provider or entity that handles electronic patient information must follow all related federal laws, including HIPAA and its Privacy Standards.
A person can only use or access PHI if they are acting within their professional responsibilities. This means that it’s okay for someone to check an HIV patient’s records as long as they’re employed as an HIV clinician, but not if they’re just checking because they want to know what the patient looks like.
Make sure to work closely with a compliance officer to ensure that you and your business are operating transparently and effectively with HIPAA compliancy in Anchorage, AK.
