![]() ![]() Here’s what HIPAA-and a HIPAA violation-actually is. It’s not often that a relatively obscure health care regulation makes its way into the public eye, so here’s what you need to know about HIPAA. And while it may make you uncomfortable to be asked for proof of vaccination, it is very unlikely to be an actual violation of HIPAA. Not a member? Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership.Thanks to ongoing conversations around vaccine requirements-and angry social media commenters-you may have found yourself wondering, What actually is HIPAA? With the news that an increasing number of businesses and local governments are requiring vaccination for staff and New York City announcing it would require proof of vaccination for entry to restaurants, concert venues, and gyms, you’ve probably also seen commenters protest that such requirements are a “HIPAA violation.”Īlthough there are valid medical privacy concerns about disclosing your vaccination status and important confidentiality conversations to have, those issues actually have pretty much nothing to do with regulations in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Members with questions about their obligations under HIPAA or any other employment law should contact a member of our team of HR and legal professionals to discuss. We realize that not all situations can be covered in an article like this. Regardless of the method by which you receive information regarding your employee’s vaccination status, such information should be treated as private information and not shared with others in the company, unless their position requires that knowledge. If the employee goes out on their own and gets the vaccine and shares that information with you, that is their choice of disclosure and no violations have occurred.If you provide the vaccine as a work safety public health measure, outside of the company health plan, then vaccine cards can be shared with the employer, by the employee, without HIPAA oversight.If you are providing the vaccine as part of a HIPAA-covered health plan or wellness program, the employee will need to sign an authorization for you (employer) to receive the vaccine information from the provider.You may ask your employee, “ Have you received the vaccine?” If the answer is no, do not ask your employee why they haven’t received the vaccine.Here are some helpful tips to avoid a potential violation: If you are going to make vaccine-related inquiries, make sure they are strictly related to the job the employee performs or are asked out of business necessity only. That said, we do want to be cautious about inadvertently revealing a potential ADA /disability situation, and, in some cases, HIPAA might be a concern. Therefore, if your business is a restaurant, asking your wait staff if they have been vaccinated is not a HIPAA violation. HIPAA only applies to covered entities, including health plans, healthcare providers, and healthcare clearinghouses. The privacy rule also gave patients new rights over their healthcare data (i.e., the right to obtain their own information, make changes when needed, and prevent details from being disclosed to insurers). This meant that health providers were educated and required to protect the health information of their patients within strict guidelines. In 2003, the privacy rule was implemented to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information, including protected health information (PHI). ![]() ![]() It was first signed into law in 1996 and was meant to “improve the portability and accountability of health insurance coverage” for anyone between jobs (so you didn’t lose the ability to obtain health insurance if you lost your job). HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Let’s begin with some information about HIPAA so we canīetter understand how this protective measure works.
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