subject: What Does The Hipaa Have To Say About Your Computer Use? [print this page] There are a number of government regulations about how any particular organization needs to handle all of its confidential information. There are ways to report important financial data and there are methods which can be used to handle secret pieces of information regarding the public. In terms of medical information, the HIPAA will regulate how any particular office will need to protect information of the patients. Known particularly as the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, this piece of legislation requires that computer security will be needed to protect the private information of any citizen.
While most doctor's offices will have patients waive their HIPAA rights in order to receive treatment, there will still be a basic level of security that will be needed to make sure that information is being handled in the correct way. Waiving medical rights does not mean that a patient's information will be handed out to just anyone, but rather that doctors and their staff will be able to consult your full medical and insurance history at any point to make sure that they are acting in a proper manner. Computer security will still be needed to make sure that this information is not exposed.
Most offices will implement certain types of procedure to make sure that all information is protected. Sometimes this procedure means keeping all data in computers which are locked away, which can be a slow process which is not incredibly efficient. Rather than cause a delay of this nature, it may be much smarter to turn to other forms of computer security. One easy way to accomplish this is by using a privacy screen which fits over the monitor of your computer and will stop others from looking at the information you are accessing on the computer.
This can help you stay within HIPAA standards as you are accessing any patient's information. You will not be exposing this information to an outside source, as anyone looking at the computer screen will need to be within a 30 degree angle of the monitor in order to see what is being displayed. This should help you make sure that you are always following regulations and will not get into trouble with the way that you are operating. This type of computer security is rather easy to obtain and make use of as well, as it will simply be a sheet that you attach to your computer using self-adhesive tabs.
HIPAA regulations will apply to more than simply doctor's offices, however. Insurance agencies, employers, and schools may all have this information on hand and protecting that information will be important as well. This type of computer security is good for any office or group which has important information which needs to be protected. Instead of relying upon cumbersome procedures which may not even be that effective, using a privacy screen could easily solve all problems. They are quick and easy to obtain and start using and you may quickly wonder why you never looked into them before!
