Hospitals and doctors’ offices must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA requires safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of Protected Health Information (PHI). These safeguards include the secure receipt, handling, storage, transmittal and disposal of PHI.
HIPAA compliance, in terms of document and electronic media destruction, includes the requirement for health organizations to do due diligence in choosing a reliable vendor for the secure disposal of PHI.
Under HIPAA compliance covered entities are required to execute a Business Associate Agreement if using a 3rd party vendor to handle or dispose of confidential information.
SecurShred’s AAA certification by the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) ensures that our employees, facilities, equipment and processes meet stringent security guidelines to ensure HIPAA compliance.
HIPAA (HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT)
SecurShred destruction process ensures compliance with HIPAA disposal requirements.
Protecting the Privacy of Patient’s Health Information
Excerpts from the HHS Fact Sheet and the HIPAA Bill
Congress recognized the need for national patient record privacy standards in 1996 when they enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The law included provisions designed to save money for health care businesses by encouraging electronic transactions, but it also required new safeguards to protect the security and confidentiality of that information.
From HIPAA Regulations Safeguards: 164.518©
“Examples of appropriate safeguards include requiring that documents containing protected health information be shredded prior to disposal”…
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