HIPAA regulations require doctors to gain patient permission to view medical records.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements in Maryland relate to the fair transfer of a consumer's health insurance coverage and his rights to confidentiality. Medical personnel and insurance companies have a duty to protect the confidentiality of patient medical records under this law and may face stiff penalties including large institutional fines for violating HIPAA regulations.
Required Insurance Coverage
According to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, HIPAA law requires insurance providers to extend health insurance coverage to all those who have been insured with another company for the past 12 months regardless of pre-existing conditions. The new insurance company is required to grant coverage immediately and may not impose a waiting period on the consumer. This is to allow continuity of health coverage for those who lose jobs and are forced to switch health care providers when being removed from a former employer's group medical plan.
Obligations of Medical Personnel
Medical personnel in Maryland are required under HIPAA to protect patient information regarding medical records and any information that would identify them in a medical report. Only medical personnel that have a medically relevant reason to view a patient's records, charts and information regarding current care may do so. Medical personnel are required to store patient information through the use of a computer database and are required to use nonidentifying information when transferring patient medical records to insurance companies and other medical institutions.
Insurance Billing Requirements
Health insurance companies are required to use the National Plan and Provider System when receiving and submitting patient information regarding payment and coverage determinations. This protects the identity of the patient through electronic transmission of information and limits what the health insurance company can view with regard to records and care. This also removes the potential for bias in the system by removing any identifying patient information from the decision-making equation. A patient's insurance company may only view medical records to determine eligibility for coverage and to process payments.
Tags: medical records, patient information, health insurance, information regarding, insurance companies
