Categories: Become A Medical Office Assistant

Basics on Patient Confidentiality

Protecting patient confidentiality is something that modern healthcare facilities have to take very seriously. The HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) does not permit the use of protected health information without individual consent. Medical office assistant jobs require employees to follow the HIPAA guidelines while handling patient information. In this article we’ll summarize the duties of medical office assistants and the patient confidentiality requirements of HIPAA.

Medical Office Assistant Job Responsibilities

A medical office assistant offers administrative roles to support healthcare professionals in medical settings such as hospitals and clinics. The typical job duties of medical office assistants include:

Recording patient medical histories
Updating patient records
Processing paperwork for insurance claims
Scheduling patient appointments

HIPAA and Medical Office Assistant Jobs

HIPAA is a law enacted to protect individuals from having their private health information used or communicated without their consent.

The patient confidentiality standards of HIPAA can be broken down into four main “rules”: the privacy rule, the security rule, the breach notification rule, and the omnibus rule.

1. The HIPAA Privacy Rule

Under HIPAA, patient health administration must be kept private. Patients’ health information is to be kept between them and the medical professionals treating them, and generally cannot be used or disclosed except as necessary to other medical professionals for the purpose of providing better treatment. This rule sets standards for how patient health information can be used or transmitted.

2. The Security Rule

The security provisions of HIPAA go hand in hand with the privacy provisions. They set standards for the security measures which must be taken to protect patients’ private health info to prevent unauthorized use or access. This includes physical, electronic, and administrative protections.

3. The Breach Notification Rule

This part of HIPAA mandates that if there is an unauthorized or improper disclosure of a patient’s private health information for any reason, the patient must be notified within 60 days, and that patients have the right to file a complaint if they think their rights under HIPAA have been violated.

4. The Omnibus Rule

This part of HIPAA codifies procedures for the investigation of HIPAA rule violations and the penalties for violations.

Because medical office assistants deal with patients’ private health information on a regular basis as part of their everyday job duties, they need to thoroughly understand their obligations under HIPAA. Penalties for violations of HIPAA policies in healthcare facilities can include corrective action plans from the institution, financial fines, and discipline from the employer.

Qualifications for Medical Office Assistant Jobs

The educational barriers to working as a medical office assistant are not high. To start your path to a medical office assistant career, you just need a high school diploma or equivalent. However, because these jobs do require specialized knowledge like the proper handling of patient info under HIPAA, you can ensure you’re prepared and improve your job prospects by going through a specialized training program like the one offered by PCI Health Training Center.

PCI’s program can be completed in as little as six months. After four months of classroom training, you’ll get to apply the skills you’ve learned in a real-world setting with a 200-hour externship in a real healthcare facility. Enroll today or contact us with any questions.

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