HIPAA and Your Privacy
At Trinity Health Michigan, your privacy and confidentiality are taken very seriously. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) safeguards your private information and protects you and your family as a patients of our hospital.
What is HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was designed to improve the portability and continuity of health care coverage in the group and individual insurance markets, and to improve protections against fraud and abuse within the industry.
HIPAA sets the industry standards for the:
- Privacy of protected individual health information
- Electronic transmissions of health information
- Security of this information
As a result of HIPAA, institutions have implemented changes in how health care information is handled, transferred and stored. HIPAA requires institutions to review and modify systems, policies, procedures and behavior.
What does HIPAA mean for you?
For patients, HIPAA provides more information with which to make informed choices when seeking health care, and a better understanding of how personal health information may be used.
HIPAA gives you the right to:
- Examine and request copies of their own health records
- Request corrections
- Find out if and how your personal health information has been used for purposes other than treatment
HIPAA Compliance
Hospital compliance with HIPAA is NOT optional. Penalties for failing to comply with regulatory requirements or for the wrongful disclosure of protected health information can be severe, with fines and prison sentences resulting from the most serious violations.
Compliance with HIPAA guidelines also provides health care institutions with improved administrative efficiencies, reduced paperwork by promotion of electronic standards, reduced costs and more assurance that health care information remains available, confidential and safeguarded.
What are we doing about HIPAA?
To coordinate activities related to full compliance with HIPAA guidelines, Trinity Health Michigan's Organizational Integrity/HIPAA Manager serves as the hospital's HIPAA site coordinator. In addition, the hospital has a HIPAA Implementation Team. The HIPAA Implementation Team works with senior management to see that all aspects of HIPAA guidelines are carried out.
Where can you learn more about HIPAA?
For more information about HIPAA and its impact on you and your personal health information, please check out the following websites: