De-Identification of PHI under HIPAA - Follow the Guidance to Avoid Penalties
Details
Overview:
Today health information needs to be shared more than ever, but how can that be done most easily within the limits of HIPAA? One way is to de-identify the information.
Once PHI has been de-identified, it is no longer protected under HIPAA and may be shared freely without limitation. The problem is that it is not easy to truly de-identify information and if it is not done correctly, the sharing of the information may be
considered a breach that requires reporting to HHS and the potential for penalties and corrective action plans.
De-identification of Protected Health Information requires removing all eighteen of the listed identifiers, or anything else that might be used to identify the individual about whom the information exists. Or you can have an expert certify that the information
is not identifiable. But neither of these is foolproof. You need to look more closely to be sure the data cannot be identified. You may wish to communicate with another provider, or with an agency that is not covered under HIPAA, using plain e-mail, but you
want to strip out the name and use a code that both parties understand. Is that sufficient to allow the use of plain e-mail? You need to run though some examples and some tests to make sure before you go ahead.
• They can get the benefit of advice from experts in the field.
• Healthcare professionals will have the flexibility of viewing recorded webinars at their convenience.
• MentorHealth offers online interactive participation. Using this, healthcare professionals, no matter which part of the world they are based in, will have the opportunity to listen to and interact with some of the most accomplished experts in the healthcare Industry.
MentorHealth is driven by a core objective –that of being a platform for learning and discussion to address some of the important issues and challenges that the healthcare community, consisting of healthcare workers from doctors to nurses to other support staff, is up against in today‘s scenario. Various aspects of healthcare, such as Meaningful Use, Patient Protection and Affordable Care, HIPAA, HITECH Act, Stark and Anti Kickback Act, Valid Consent, Patient Safety and Process Improvement, Patient Safety and Quality Outcomes, Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Records, Nursing Informatics, Healthcare Disclosure, Electronic Transactions Standards such as 5010 and ICD-10, Electronic Health Records, Stimulus Code, Healthcare Information Exchange, Healthcare Information Technology, Medical Necessity, Personal Health Records, Clinical Decision Support, Financial Management and ROI, Electronic Prescribing, Healthcare Information Systems, Clinical Informatics, Insurance Claim Appeals, Auto ID and Bar Coding, Integration and Interoperability, Risk Management in the Retention and Destruction of Medical Records and Medical Records Law, to name just a few, are covered. ...