THE
SURVEYOR
I SPRING 2014
HIPAA
By Barb Sylvester, VP of Clinical Compliance, Regulatory Affairs and Quality
We are
committed
to ensuring
security
for our accredited organizations
and their patients, and have
made the investment within
our organization to comply with
HIPAA HITECH regulations.”
- BARB SYLVESTER
VP OF CLINICAL COMPLIANCE,
REGULATORY AFFAIRS AND QUALITY
It must be human nature that we take some comfort in knowing that we are not
alone in needing to comply with mandatory regulations. ACHC understands the
complexity of complying with all aspects of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that our accredited organizations experience.
You are not alone.
HIPAA was enacted to provide the public with protection and control of personal
health information. Since its introduction, HIPAA regulations have undergone
several additions to accommodate changes in the industry and technology. Most
recently, the Omnibus Final Rule was introduced in January, 2013 that greatly
enhanced a patient’s privacy protections, provided individuals new rights to their
health information, and strengthened the government’s ability to enforce the law.
During 2013, ACHC instituted and maintained full compliance with HIPAA Health
Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) regulations.
While ACHC has always followed procedures to ensure the protection of all
personal health information, compliance with HIPAA HITECH regulations
demonstrates the highest level of security for protected health information.
The additional measures taken by ACHC to achieve compliance with HIPAA
HITECH requirements provide an elevated level of assurance for companies that
achieve ACHC accreditation. ACHC’s dedication to protecting any private information is reflected in our requirement for
all accredited organizations and downstream business associates to sign business associate agreements. The added
level of security not only protects personal health information, but also any information pertaining to the companies
that ACHC conducts business with.
14
I 855-YES-ACHC (855-937-2242) I
achc.org