HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
The regulatory landscape of America’s health industry can be quite confusing, with thousands of pages of laws, hundreds of required forms, mandated training, and certification processes, figuring out all the necessary steps to compliance may be overwhelming. The point of much of this confusion is “HIPAA certification,” offered by dozens of private security and health companies across the country.
What is HIPAA?
HIPAA certification should not be confused with legally recognized (and oftentimes, required) forms of certification for health professionals. There are indeed a multitude of certifications that health professionals must complete to comply with federal laws. One example of legally mandated certification is the Security Awareness and Training program, a compliance requirement that 100% of Department of Health and Human Resources employees and contractors must complete on an annual basis.
Provided by a myriad of private companies in the health sector, HIPAA certification comes in many shapes and sizes. At its most basic, HIPAA “certification” is a third-party process meant to aid your organization’s HIPAA compliance. It may be an evaluation of your organization’s HIPAA compliance, as per the Security Rule found in section 164 of the Act
Should My Organization Become HIPAA “Certified?”
This decision is entirely up to your organization. Once again, there is no requirement to do so, and it does not absolve your organization of any of its responsibilities in accordance to HIPAA.
Many healthcare professionals have spoken out against these for-profit certification processes. One of the main criticisms leveled at HIPAA “certification” companies is that no single person can completely address all parts of HIPAA for your organization.
Security experts suggest a more wholesome approach, which includes outsourcing security needs to reputable technology companies, building the necessary internal infrastructure for ensuring compliance, and keeping up-to-date with latest developments by attending conferences and seminars. There are, however, several reasons why your organization may want to receive a third-party certification for HIPAA.- Improved performance and morale of your employees
- Improved efficiencies in health and safety budgeting for costs such as training, ensuring that money is well spent and related to real needs of the organisation
- Greater reassurance of stakeholders that you are taking all reasonable steps to protect the business against damage to your reputation and breach of legislation
- HIPAA is increasingly a pre-requisite for companies wishing to tender for contracts within certain industries.
Like other standards, HIPAA is not a one-off exercise. Regular reviews keep health and safety at the forefront of people’s minds, reducing your risk of non-compliance and demonstrating due diligence.
Why do I need certification?
Third party certification of your health and safety policy and procedures provides independent verification and credibility of the quality of your systems.
How does my business gain HIPAA certification?
Generally organisations start their ISO journey with ISO 9001, as this puts in place quality management procedures that can be extended and developed to include health and safety.
How can National Accreditation of United Kingdom help my business gain HIPAA certification?
We work alongside your existing health and safety professionals to work out the most effective way to implement HIPAA in your business. This may include presentations to your senior team, training and support on production of policies and manuals.
The certification process is very similar to ISO 9001, working on the principles of:
“Say What It Does” – document day to day operating procedures and systems
“Do What It Says” – work in accordance with those procedures and systems
“Prove It” – with a certification audit which confirms, from records, that the procedures and systems meet the requirements of HIPAA and are operated in accordance with the Standard.
With a fixed fee and flexible approach, our assessors are focused on making standards work in your business.
Contact Us
For your Free Queries by an ISO Specialist, contact us today!
Unit-1
Levenside Business Court 21 Levenside ,
Vale of Leven Industrial Estate
Dunbarton G82 3PE
