The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that was passed as a federal law in 1996 and it help in safeguarding the confidential information of patients. There are very stringent regulations of HIPAA that need to be followed and any violations will attract penalties. The penalties can include fines or imprisonment depending on the nature and extent of the violation.

The protected information of patients can only be accessed by health care service providers who are authorized to do so. In most cases even these health care service providers and health insurance companies will need permission from the patient to access their records for specific purposes.

Top 5 Exceptions To Confidentiality Rules Of HIPAA

1. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy rules will not be applicable under certain circumstances and this would mean that access to the confidential information will be allowed. When the federal law authorizes disclosure of medical records then no permission will be required from the patient. Similarly there are also some state laws that can authorize access to the medical records without authorization.

2. If the protected information is needed for completing a legal process of law then the privacy law of HIPAA will not be applicable. If an individual threatens to commit suicide or harm others then the various laws of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act will not apply. This will help in preventing any kind of harm.

3. The disclosure of confidential information of patients can also be done for public safety reasons. For instance if an individual has a communicable disease then information about it needs to be disclosed so that public safety can be ensured.

4. Researchers, funeral directors, coroners and medical examiners will also be able to access the protected information of patients without any specific authorizations. There is usually a board constituted by the institutions and this board will decide on each disclosure that needs to be made.

5. If the medical bills are unpaid then administrative disclosures can be made to various agencies. There are various federal agencies that can have access to the protected information of patients.

Apart from these exceptions the medical records of patients cannot be accessed for any other purpose. If there is an unauthorized access to the protected information there are various civil and criminal penalties that can be imposed.

All covered entities will need to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. The exceptions to the rules and regulations of HIPAA should be done only for specific purposes that are identified by the Act. All health care organizations will need to follow these exceptions to fulfill the federal law that overrides HIPAA.

The exceptions to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act need not follow the security and privacy rules that will help in preventing any kind of access to protected information. These guidelines and requirements will need to be fulfilled by all organizations that are classified as covered entities by HIPAA. It is not necessary that the patient be informed about the access to their protected information.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website.

For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website http://www.hipaaexams.com/hipaa-training.html

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our HIPAA Training website.

Category: Medical Business
Keywords: health care organizations ,HIPAA,Health Insurance ,HIPAA Compliant