HIPAA Law



             


Sunday, March 30, 2008

Choosing Affordable Health Insurance For Children

Choosing Affordable Health Insurance For Children

In most cases, private health insurance comes through a person's employer, who picks up the majority of the cost of premiums. However, today many people, who are either self-employed or who work for a company that doesn't offer health insurance, find it necessary to obtain quality affordable health insurance for children. There are a wide range of plans and offerings of affordable health insurance for children and it's necessary to pick and choose from among the many plans available. For example, if you feel your family may need alternative health options such as massage therapy or acupuncture, you'll want to make sure your plan covers these choices.

Affordable Health Insurance For Children and families.

Another consideration is the cost. Generally, the higher your premiums the lower your deductible. But, don't let the lure of have no insurance coverage persuade you that affordable health insurance for children is something you don't need. That simply isn't the case. The cost of a major hospital visit can vastly exceed any premiums you may have not paid over the past several years. Experts tell us that it's very important that children have access to quality health care as they grow up and most people agree that in this day and age, everyone needs some type of health insurance coverage. With it youll have more peace of mind and, should you become ill, youre covered. The good news is there are quite a number of low cost health-insurance options available and navigating the maze of available policies is easier than ever with the help of the Internet.

http://www.a1-healthinsurance-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Fortis Health Insurance Is a Name You Can Trust!

Fortis Health Insurance Is a Name You Can Trust!

Fortis health insurance has been a widely recognized name in the insurance since 1892. It has proven itself and won the trust of people around the world. Fortis health insurance is committed to providing the best solutions possible to meet your insurance needs.

There are a great variety of plans available. Fortis short term health insurance is of great use to those who are temporarily uninsured. Students can find Fortis short term health insurance tailored especially for them. From complete coverage to a specific prescription plan, Fortis health insurance will have what you are looking for.

Fortis health insurance is a driving force behind the new Health Savings Accounts, known as HSAs. An HSA works like an IRA, except that the money is used to pay health care costs. The money deposited and the interest earned are tax-deductible, and the money can be withdrawn to pay medical bills, tax-free. This is becoming a very popular method of helping pay for your current medical needs, and safe-guarding for your future.

Fortis health insurance is changing its name to Assurant Health. Rest assured that there will be no change at all in the high quality service and dependability that people around the world have come to expect from Fortis health insurance.


http://www.a1-healthinsurance-4u.com/

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Fortis Health Insurance Is a Name You Can Trust!

Fortis Health Insurance Is a Name You Can Trust!

 by: Mike Yeager

Fortis health insurance has been a widely recognized name in the insurance since 1892. It has proven itself and won the trust of people around the world. Fortis health insurance is committed to providing the best solutions possible to meet your insurance needs.

There are a great variety of plans available. Fortis short term health insurance is of great use to those who are temporarily uninsured. Students can find Fortis short term health insurance tailored especially for them. From complete coverage to a specific prescription plan, Fortis health insurance will have what you are looking for.

Fortis health insurance is a driving force behind the new Health Savings Accounts, known as HSAs. An HSA works like an IRA, except that the money is used to pay health care costs. The money deposited and the interest earned are tax-deductible, and the money can be withdrawn to pay medical bills, tax-free. This is becoming a very popular method of helping pay for your current medical needs, and safe-guarding for your future.

Fortis health insurance is changing its name to Assurant Health. Rest assured that there will be no change at all in the high quality service and dependability that people around the world have come to expect from Fortis health insurance.

Mike Yeager

Publisher

http://www.a1-healthinsurance-4u.com/

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Aetna Health Insurance For Your Protection!

Aetna Health Insurance For Your Protection!

Aetna health insurance has long been a highly recognized insurance company. Millions of people have put their trust in Aetna health insurance over the years. Aetna individual health insurance has been a top choice of employers who want to obtain sufficient coverage for their employees. Medical costs these days are spiraling higher than ever before.

Aetna has risen to the occasion and created some effective new plans to meet todays Aetna individual health insurance needs. For instance, the Aetna Health Fund is in gaining popularity. The employer puts an amount of money in a fund and the employee spends from it until it is gone. After that the employee pays out of pocket for medical expenses, up to a certain amount. Any amount that is left over at the end of the year can be rolled over to the next year. This is just an example of the innovative new ways Aetna individual health insurance can be suited to your needs.

Preventive care is a high priority with Aetna health insurance. Regular check-ups can determine health problems early on before they become life threatening. While this may be common sense, thats not necessarily the case with all insurance companies. Your health is in good hands with health insurance Aetna.

Mike Yeager
Publisher
http://www.a1-healthinsurance-4u.com/

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Solutions for Health Insurance Coverage

When it comes to health care, there is no "one size fits all."

Ideally, working for an employer who offers non-contributory health insurance is what most of us would aspire to. However, that is not a realistic scenario.

Finding affordable, adequate health care coverage is a huge problem in our country right now. If you are in a situation where you require certain medications and have no access to reduced rates on prescriptions you can almost bet the farm that you will be paying top dollar for the medications you need.

When considering a change in employment, scrutinizing the potential employers health care plan is a given. Sadly, many people look at everything about a new job except the health care plan. Contracting a debilitating illness or becoming an unwilling participant in an accident is not something that anyone can foresee.

Life situations change and a health care plan that was adequate for a single person may not apply should he/she marry and even have children while employed. If their policy has no provisions for the addition of dependents in the future you can find your health care woefully inadequate. Take the time to project what your future situation might be and plan accordingly.

One of the most overlooked segments of our society are the self-employed. Depending on age and dependent requirements, the cost for individual coverage can be astronomical.

If you are self-employed or a very small business owner, consider joining a local association like a chamber of commerce, better business bureau or some other type of business organization. Many of these organizations offer access to health care that might otherwise be prohibitive on an individual basis.

Unless you are in a category considered as "low income" that would afford you access to social health care, you can plan on paying hefty premiums. If you have a pre-existing condition, your chances of obtaining affordable rates are statistically very low. But, there are some things you can do.

Some tips to bear in mind are:

- Make certain you are looking at insurance that is appropriate and adequate for your needs.
- Read the fine print so you understand what is included and what is excluded.
- Never buy a policy that covers a single disease.
- Are there deductibles and if so, how much?
- Does the coverage include major medical?
- What is the maximum out of pocket expense you can expect to incur?
- When does coverage begin?
- Does the coverage include prescriptions?
- Are lab fees and x-rays included?
- Can you choose your own physician or select from a list of providers?
- What is most important to you?
- Does the coverage include dental, vision, maternity, well-baby care, etc.

If you are in that "no mans land" where you do not yet qualify for Medicare, Medicaid or any of the other social programs yet are too old for individual coverage you might take a look at AARP. It can provide a stop gap for that period of time while you are waiting to qualify for assistance.

If you are a young single parent, investigate any subsidized programs that might be available in your state. Many states have programs that will provide care for your children if not for yourself. These social programs are generally based on a sliding scale based on your income level and in many cases visits and prescriptions for your children might be free of charge.

Investigate non-insurance type programs. If you find yourself not able to pay the hefty monthly insurance premiums, can't get the coverage you need, or fall into areas that are not covered by traditional health insurance means, this type of program can literally save you thousands of dollars. This non-insurance solution gives members negotiated reduced fee schedules or discounts for medical, dental, prescriptions, hospitals, vision care, and more.

With the skyrocketing costs of health care, no one should ever feel embarrassed or sacrifice the health of themselves or their loved ones by applying for any type of assistance that might be available to meet their needs. Until something happens to curb this upward spiral we must all take special steps to see that the most vulnerable members of our society receive the health care they need... namely, our children and our elderly.

Jill R. Hyland is an Independent Marketing Representative, National Director for Maxous, Inc., a non-insurance company saving people 20% to 50% on things people purchase every single day, such as Fast Food-Dining, Medical, Movies, Prescriptions, Car Services, Vision, Legal, Dental, Golfing, Bowling, Haircuts, Travel, and much, much more - As Low as $19.99 per month for the whole family!
http://www.discountspro.com

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Monday, February 4, 2008

HIPAA Compliant FTP Hosting

FTP Hosting ? an overview

?File Transfer Protocol?, commonly known as FTP, is a reliable protocol to exchange large volume of digital information from one computer to another. FTP hosting technique has simplified file transfer process over the Internet. FTP hosting comes with two components ? FTP Server and FTP Client. Moreover, each FTP user will get a unique FTP account with user name and password. Irrespective of file type and file size, FTP account holders can upload the files in FTP Server through their FTP account. Similarly, FTP account holders can download copies of the uploaded files from FTP Server.

FTP hosting services provides complete security in file exchange process. Only authorized FTP account holders can view and access the files. Further, you can restrict a FTP account holder to access other FTP accounts. Irrespective of business volume, companies require to transfer files over the Internet. Though it is true that Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) provides the facility to share information over the Internet but due to its limitations, FTP became popular across the globe.

FTP Hosting for Health Care Services

In Medical Transcription or other Health Care Services, medical reports are stored and exchanged in digital format. The growing necessity of exchanging large volume of medical reports and files over the Internet allows the Health care Service providers to use File Transfer Protocol as an alternative of Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. After the introduction of Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996, extra guidelines are drawn for FTP hosting. All types of Health Care Services, who store and exchange medical files and reports over the Internet will fall under this Act and have to follow HIPAA regulation throughout the business process to ensure quality service and security of digital medical files and reports.

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, commonly known as HIPAA, is a set rule to protect health related electronic information. The effect of HIPAA rules is applied to all types of health care organizations and support services. According to Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act, all the health care organizations and support services should maintain necessary security measures to protect personal health information.

Medical institutes and support services prepares and stores health information of the patients in digital format. Based on the requirement, these digital reports are exchanged from one computer to another over the Internet. Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act ensures complete security of digital health information that includes ? secure storage system and secure transmission of digital information over the Internet.

HIPAA Compliant FTP Hosting

The growing importance of Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act in health care sector has given the birth of HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services. The objective of HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services is to protect unauthorized people from accessing digital heal information or medical report.

Following are some general features of HIPAA compliance FTP hosting service:

  • HIPAA compliance FTP servers are considered as highly secured data centers.
  • The system will automatically generate and run several threads during transferring digital medical files from one location to another. This is known as Multi-thread File Transfer and makes the process faster than normal File Transfer Protocol.
  • HIPAA compliance FTP hosting service comes with 128-bit transfer encryption. Digital files are transferred in the encrypted form. There is also another process ? symmetric or secret key encryption, which encrypt files and upload them in the server with a unique ?key?. The system will store the encrypted data in HIPAA compliance FTP server. Only the authorized person, who has that ?key?, can download the encrypted digital medical report from the server.
  • Like general FTP hosting services, the methods of uploading and downloading digital medical files are user friendly.
  • HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services allow the users to apply FTP services with existing firewalls.
  • Unique user name and password for HIPAA compliance FTP account holders.
  • HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services restrict anonymous FTP account holder from accessing the server.
  • Some HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services provides ultimate security by using ?Intrusion Detection System? and other security tools, which are compatible with all types of operating systems.

Advantages of HIPAA compliance FTP Hosting

The main advantage of HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services is data encryption. HIPAA compliance FTP hosting services will encrypt each data files in separate pieces of data, which are known as ?key?. You have to use the software xTyFTP during the process of uploading medical records in the FTP server. The software will encrypt the digital file in the computer and provide the ?key? to the authorized user decrypt.

HIPAA compliance hosting services will store the encrypted file in the server. However, if any unauthorized user accesses the file from the FTP server, he/she will get the encrypted form and the content will remain hidden without the right ?key?.

Apart from data encryption, which is considered as the core feature of HIPAA regulation, HIPAA compliance FTP hosting service requires secure procedure in data handling and serious maintenance of necessary policies, e.g., restricting unauthorized users from damaging digital information.

Adam is a Network Engineer with "InstantFTPsites.com". You can learn more about "FTP Hosting" services online at http://www.InstantFTPsites.com.

? 2006 InstantFTPsites http://www.InstantFTPsites.com You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "Author Biography").

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The Modern Medical Office: Balancing Success, Technology, and HIPAA

The medical field has always depended on technology for improving patient care. Thanks to advances in technology, administrative functions of healthcare offices have greatly increased their efficiency and customer relations. For example, there is technology that allows doctors to share information with offices across street or across the nation instantly with just a few clicks of the mouse. These advances not only free up hours of paperwork, but also quickly provides information vital to patient’s care.

The Electronic Medical Office & HIPAA

A clinic can in the end be more profitable by offering these innovative services. Nearly half of the people interviewed in a Forrester Research study said they would be willing to pay more for online features; such email access to their doctors. (1)

While technology can be tremendously beneficial there are serious cautions that must be heeded. In 2003, the privacy rule of HIPAA was enacted and the rules governing protected health information (PHI) of patients became far more stringent. The rule governs the way in which information is handled. It requires every level of communication and storage of the PHI to be secure and private.(2) Examples of the ways violations occur are:

  • Computer screens visible from waiting room
  • Files left out around the office
  • PHI not disposed of properly, such as securely shredded
  • Records sent to the wrong home or email address

 

Due to these changes all modes of communication have a heavier burden of responsibility placed upon them since the inclusion of the privacy rule, but none more than electronic transmissions. Keeping the information protected when sending emails, which can be intercepted, can in itself be a daunting task.

HIPAA’s Penalties

If an action taken by any employee, whether intentional, unintentional, or simply neglectful leads to improper recipient of PHI, the practice involved could face serious consequences.

 

  • The civil penalties range from "$100 per incident, up to $25,000 per person, per year, per standard that is violated."(3)
  • The criminal penalties range in three main groups. The first is up to $50,000 and 1 year in prison, moving up to $100,000 and 5 years, or $250,000 and 10 years in prison.

 

Each tier of the criminal penalties has different qualifications leading up to the knowingly disclosing PHI with the intent for malicious harm. (3)

Keeping Your Practice HIPAA Compliant

It’s important for today’s electronic medical office to have several layers of digital protection. This ensures PHI or any other private information cannot go outside the confines of the practices’ systems without the proper digital rights. These rights can be controlled by moderators or even the sender and have the ability to dictate what permissions the receiver may have.

One large step is to protect your practice from accidentally sending information into the wrong hands. This can be done through email anti-theft solutions which encrypts the data sent via email. By using these types of programs, the sender may control not only the security of the file but also subsequent actions that may be carried out by the file’s recipient(s).

email anti-theft programs allow the user to establish who can view, edit, print and forwarding these important health records. Permissions set with email anti-theft software stays with the documents once they’ve left the clinic’s computer.

What Happens if My Practice’s Computer is Stolen?

Email anti-theft software can also protect the data on the computer if the machine is ever misplaced or stolen. This can be done through remote laptop security. All the victim of theft has to do is log into the program and there remotely block access to all protected files on the missing laptop. Without improvement in the means of securing and transmitting their files many practices will continue to commit violations of HIPAA, losing money and patients along the way.

HIPAA Compliance & Patient Trust

It is obvious that one must comply with HIPAA because of the financial penalties that go with noncompliance. There are however, far better reasons for compliance than avoiding punishment.

HIPAA Violations can break the trust between doctors and patients, but compliance along with new technology can strengthen relationships. When patients have new services such as the ability to ask questions to doctors via email the doctors can enhance their trust levels. This is especially important for small practices as interpersonal relationships play key roles for the retention of patients.

The advantages of technology will continue to provide new ways of serving patients. As the digital age comes the computer will increasingly become the focus of record keeping. With an industries like medical & healthcare so dependent on keeping detailed yet secure records, it is going to be ever important to stay current with strong security programs to encrypt and protect files.

 

  1. Bradford J. Holmes, Eric G. Brown, Elizabeth W. Boehm, Lynne Bishop, "Trends In Healthcare Consumer Technology Adoption" Forrester Research, 15 July 2004.
  2. Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Pt 164.
  3. United States Department of Health and Human Services. Protecting the Privacy of Patients' Health Information Summary of the Final Regulation. 2005. http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/final/pvcfact1.htm

    Michael L. David is a member of the marketing team at Essential Security Software (ESS), the leading provider of email anti-theft software for small business. He is a regular contributor to http://www.Iwantmyess.com

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