Implementing a HIPAA Compliance Program

The Implementing a HIPAA Compliance Program for Leadership course provides the student a comprehensive review of the HIPAA standard, the HIPAA Security Rule, Privacy Rule, and Enforcement Rule. The course is conducted from a leadership point of view working with a new hospital, who is early in its implementation of its security program, with the goal in achieving HIPAA compliance in 18 months.

The student will be provided in-depth instruction on the HIPAA standard, it’s rules, and enforcement principles. Once the student has a full understanding of how HIPAA aims to secure and maintain the privacy of a patient’s health information (PHI), the student will learn how to roll out a HIPAA compliance program as the CISO for a hospital whose security program is still in its infancy

Course Goals

By the end of the HIPAA compliance course, students should be able to:

Understand the HIPAA Security, Privacy, and Enforcement Rules

Demonstrate knowledge of the components necessary for an organization to achieve HIPAA compliance

Demonstrate knowledge of the processes, procedures, methodologies, and controls required by the HIPAA standard to protect PHI and ePHI.

Demonstrate knowledge of how a security leader might help an organization early in its information security program, prepare, plan, execute, and test its ability to protect the privacy and security of patient data while improve patient care and wellbeing.

In this course, students will learn the procedures and protocols needed to implement and ensure a security program that is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule and Privacy Rule.

What is a HIPAA Compliance Program?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA for short, is a succession of regulatory standards that provide a framework for the legal use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI). HIPAA is divided into two rules, the Security Standards for the Protection of Electronic Protected Health Information (Security Rule) and the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy Rule). These two rules define particular standards regarding how organizations handle PHI, protecting patients’ personal information and health records.

A HIPAA compliance program is the set of policies and procedures that an organization employs to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met. Organizations must implement a HIPAA compliance program or plan into their business to protect the security, privacy, and integrity of PHI.

What is Covered in the HIPAA Compliance Course?

In the Implementing a HIPAA Compliance Program course, students will cover the HIPAA standard, the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and Enforcement Rule. The course is intended for professionals in leadership roles who work with healthcare organizations that are in the early stages of implementing their compliance plans.

Following instruction on the HIPAA standards, rules, and enforcement principles, students will learn the process for rolling out a compliance program for their organizations. Upon completing the course, students should:

have a thorough understanding of the HIPPA Security, Privacy, and Enforcement Rules

be able to demonstrate knowledge of the components necessary for an organization to achieve HIPAA compliance

be able to demonstrate knowledge of how a security leader might help an organization early in its information security program, prepare, plan, execute, and test its ability to protect the privacy and security of patient data while improve patient care and wellbeing.

The total clock hours for this course is 3 hours and 50 minutes. Students who complete the course will receive a Certificate of Completion.

What Are the Common Reasons for Implementing HIPAA?

To ensure that an organization is meeting the standards and requirements of the HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules, they must have a HIPAA compliance program in place. These programs are important for various reasons, the most important being that they guarantee that all records and information that are designated PHI are protected from potential breaches. HIPAA compliance programs are also a way to hold providers and healthcare employees accountable for protecting patient information and to explain the consequences for failing to do so. In the event that a breach does happen, HIPAA compliance programs outline how to mitigate and manage the violation.

Additionally, HIPAA compliance programs are important because they allow patients to feel more comfortable disclosing vital information about their medical history or condition. This not only improves doctor-patient relationships, it can also lead to more accuracy when diagnosing and treating patients.

Another significant reason that HIPAA compliance programs are important is they ensure that all affected personnel, doctors, medical professionals, volunteers, and other staff are properly trained on how to manage PHI. This helps reduce the risk of violations or breaches of HIPAA regulations in the future, and can save organizations’ money and reputations as a result.

Who Must Comply with HIPAA Rules?

HIPAA rules and regulations designate two groups that must maintain compliance:

Covered entities – This group includes any organizations that create, collect, or transmit PHI electronically. Examples of covered entities are healthcare providers and staff, health insurance providers, and healthcare clearinghouses.

Business associates – This group is defined as any organizations that encounter PHI as part of their daily operations. This includes any businesses that are contracted to perform on behalf of covered entities. There are numerous types of business associates that fall into this category. Some examples include accountants, billing companies, IT providers, practice management companies, electronic health record (EHR) platforms, shredding companies, physical and cloud storage providers, attorneys, third-party consultants, and many others.

What is the Best Way to Learn to Implement a HIPAA Compliance Program?

HIPPA rules and regulations are comprehensive and the consequences for violating them can be serious. As a result, implementing a HIPAA compliance program can be a huge undertaking. That’s why we recommend that anyone who is tasked with doing so takes our Implementing a HIPAA Compliance Program training course. It provides all the information that students need to go back to their organizations and develop a plan that ensures they maintain compliance.

At Cybrary, we make it convenient for students to learn at their own pace, on their own schedule. Our courses are all online and may be completed anytime. Enrolling in a course is simple, just click on the Register button in the top right corner of the screen to get started.