Medical Records Software

Medical Records Law And Why They Are Important

In a medical organization it is extremely important to ensure the privacy of medical records of all patients in order to avoid any kind of misuse. There should be strict medical records laws to regulate and monitor this. One of the medical records laws related to the use of medical practice software is HIPAA which is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It came into effect in 1996. Its aim was to protect the privacy of medical records.

In April 2003, a mandatory law to protect health information became effective for all health plans. The hospitals were required to adopt certain standards to prevent the misuse of medical information. The organizations or individuals who failed to follow the instructions were bound to carry civil and criminal penalties that came under the federal law.

There are other local laws also to govern the use of medical records software. Some states have their own strict laws for this purpose. An organization that is covered under HIPAA has the permission to disclose information only to certain people keeping the safeguards in place to prevent the misuse of the information. The safeguards mentioned are the discretion of the physician and medical staff to discuss the patient's medical information, and safeguards related to storage of files in a secured location.

In case an organization fails to comply with HIPAA, it runs the risk of damage to its reputation and accreditation, as well as financial penalties of about 250,000 dollars or imprisonment for one year to ten years for the individual(s) concerned.

Another code included in the privacy law is that minimum necessary information is to be disclosed if the need is urgent and the disclosures can be made freely only to the department of Health and Human Services.

There was another law released in 1974 called the Privacy Act of 1974. It stated that no entity was supposed to disclose information without the consent of the individual. The organizations were also to meet certain requirements to protect information. There is another law called the Tort law which may involve defamation, privacy related torts and breach of contract.

Electronic medical records systems pose a threat to maintenance of the privacy of patients medical records. An EMR system can be misused by someone with access to the database and relevant passwords. Such a security breach can have an adverse affect on the reputation of the medical organization. It is for this purpose that medical records laws came into existence and since their inception have helped a lot to curb such problems.