Regulatory Laws and Policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Regulatory Laws and Policies - Essay Example Through its regulatory role, HHS has had a significant impact and implications on the health care industry in general. Among the acts that are implemented by the HHS include The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA )of 2005 (Frimpong & Rivers, 2009). This essay gives a critical analysis and discussion on the impact of HHS on the health care industry with a special focus on the implication of the aforementioned Acts on health care and patient safety. Illustrations of my own working experience are used to demonstrate how the regulatory framework acts to protect the needs of patients for care and privacy and security of confidential data and information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal legislation or law which gives patients a right to control all forms of Protected Health Information (PHI). In accordance to this Act, PHI represents Individually Identifiable Heal th Information (IIHI) which is acquired from the patient and stored within the health facility (Furrow, 2011). This also includes all information which related the condition of the patient whether in the past, current or future. This means that before a health care provider accesses, retrieves and uses health information on patients, the provisions of the Act must be given due consideration (Frimpong & Rivers, 2009). In this sense, it is argued that the HIPAA through the implementation of the HHS affects the manner in which hospitals and health care providers and record managers handle patient information. For example in a veteran’s affairs hospital where I work, it is mandatory that a patient signs for the release of information before it can be received or sent for specific purposes. This example demonstrates that the regulatory framework of the HHS defines the policies and procedures that health systems design for the management of information. Health systems and professio nals are mandated to adhere to the provisions of the HIPPA. Therefore the right of patients to protect and define the retrieval, use and dissemination of data on them must be respected by care professional. The management of hospitals must also ensure that health care professional adheres to these regulations as provided by the legal system. Among the entities that are covered by the HIPAA include health care providers who are involved in the retrieval, use and transmission of electronic formats of health care information (Hoffman, 2007). Because of this, the HIPPA is said to have a significant effect on the health care industry especially in the transmission of electronic records on patients (Radin, 2010). This Act has become more important within the contemporary health care information management systems which are characterized with an increased implementation and use of information and communication technologies. Health care organizations such as hospitals are mandated to put me asures that ensure that electronic health information is safe from unauthorized access and use (Liang & Mackey, 2011). Within the veteran’s affairs hospital where I work, it is a must for all information with private details on the patient such as name to be encrypted before it is sent. This measure or policy was adopted by the hospital to ensure adherence to the HIPPA. Moreover, the insecurities which characterize the modern information systems such as hacking makes it necessary