When HIPAA was brought to the medical industry it was a welcomed and needed addition to the already policy heavy industry. Because of how much was involved with it and how many changes would take place as a result of it HIPAA consulting agencies were needed to help medical offices and hospitals get up to speed.
When it first hit the administration desks at hospitals even before the bill became a law, some hospital administrators did what they could with what limited information they had to try and prepare for what was to come. They unfortunately did not have enough information to really do anything except maybe discuss what was to come.
Doctors might be great with patients and their need for help, but when it comes to paperwork and documents and things of that nature you can forget it, they get lost very quickly. It is mainly because their entire career they have nurses and receptionists and aids taking care of every little bit of that paperwork.
The fines levied against medical offices that did not comply with the laws of the act were heavy. No one wanted to have to pay one of those. Aside from the fines, it was a time when scrutiny of hospitals was at a high level and every one wanted their medical centers to be rated with positive marks, not negative ones. Especially when it comes to the rights of the patients.
Consultants were called in all over the country to assist various offices and doctors all over. In some cases they needed to revamp the entire operation just to make sure it would be compliant. Fines were being levied against offices that did not comply and they were not cheap either. It was in every bodies best interests to get everything up to speed.
There were some other common sense issues brought to the attention of staffers and medical professionals as well while the consulting agents were helping out. Patients names were not called out in waiting rooms for all to hear and charts are kept private and only the patient has the power to allow access to records.
When a doctor needed x-ray films or records from a patients last visit to their office, they needed to get the patient to sign permission for them to do so. As a proactive measure most doctors now have a form that their new patients sign that gives them rights in advance to procure forms from other offices if the need should arise.
This and other methods of getting the information they need were some of the changes that took place when the new act became a law. The HIPAA consulting agencies that worked with many of the hospitals and medical offices did wonderful things when it came to helping them fall in line and get what they needed to be compliant with the laws. If it was not for some of these agencies coming around when they did there would be some offices that went out of business due to fines.
When it first hit the administration desks at hospitals even before the bill became a law, some hospital administrators did what they could with what limited information they had to try and prepare for what was to come. They unfortunately did not have enough information to really do anything except maybe discuss what was to come.
Doctors might be great with patients and their need for help, but when it comes to paperwork and documents and things of that nature you can forget it, they get lost very quickly. It is mainly because their entire career they have nurses and receptionists and aids taking care of every little bit of that paperwork.
The fines levied against medical offices that did not comply with the laws of the act were heavy. No one wanted to have to pay one of those. Aside from the fines, it was a time when scrutiny of hospitals was at a high level and every one wanted their medical centers to be rated with positive marks, not negative ones. Especially when it comes to the rights of the patients.
Consultants were called in all over the country to assist various offices and doctors all over. In some cases they needed to revamp the entire operation just to make sure it would be compliant. Fines were being levied against offices that did not comply and they were not cheap either. It was in every bodies best interests to get everything up to speed.
There were some other common sense issues brought to the attention of staffers and medical professionals as well while the consulting agents were helping out. Patients names were not called out in waiting rooms for all to hear and charts are kept private and only the patient has the power to allow access to records.
When a doctor needed x-ray films or records from a patients last visit to their office, they needed to get the patient to sign permission for them to do so. As a proactive measure most doctors now have a form that their new patients sign that gives them rights in advance to procure forms from other offices if the need should arise.
This and other methods of getting the information they need were some of the changes that took place when the new act became a law. The HIPAA consulting agencies that worked with many of the hospitals and medical offices did wonderful things when it came to helping them fall in line and get what they needed to be compliant with the laws. If it was not for some of these agencies coming around when they did there would be some offices that went out of business due to fines.
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