PATIENT PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Patient Privacy & Security is our most important factor at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County. We strive everyday to provide our patients and visitors the privacy they deserve. Following HIPAA guidelines and security rules are a top priority at our facility and we take strong action when these guidelines are violated in any way.
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HIPAA INTRODUCTION
In April 2001, at the direction of President Bush and HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, the first-ever federal privacy standards to protect patient's medical records and other health information provided to health plans, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers went in to effect. These standards will provide patients with access to their medical records and more control over how their personal health information is used and disclosed. Most covered entitles must comply with the privacy standards by April 14, 2003.
Congress required HHS to issue patient privacy protections as part of the Health Insurance and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In November 1999, HHS published proposed regulations to provide patients new rights and protections against the misuse or disclosure of their health records.
To ensure that the final privacy regulations protect patients' privacy without creating unanticipated consequences that might harm patients' access to care or quality of care, Secretary Thompson took public comments on the final rule. In July 2001, HHS issued an initial set of guidance materials to address common misconceptions and answer other questions about the rule's provisions. In March 2002, HHS proposed specific changes to the privacy rule to ensure that it protects privacy without interfering with access to care or quality of care HHS.
Although many Americans and their health care providers view personal health information as a private matter, such information has become vital to the delivery of high quality health services and the management of day-to-day business transactions in the health care industry. As information technology advances and financial pressures grow, large volumes of potentially sensitive health information are stored and transmitted between more users than ever before. This well-recognized trend toward increase information flow has created the potential for misuse of personal health information, which Congress attempted to address through the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) in 1996.