HIPAA Legalities: A Case Study on Compliance and Investigation

This case study analyzes the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 and its role in safeguarding patient privacy, particularly in the context of electronic health information. It outlines the steps for filing a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) for HIPAA violations, stressing the importance of accurate and timely reporting. The case highlights the potential consequences of non-compliance with OCR regulations, which can hinder investigations. The scenario involves a medical instructor's inappropriate disclosure of a student's medical condition, thus violating HIPAA law. The case underscores the need for precision in reporting breaches to facilitate appropriate OCR action. Desklib provides this document, offering students access to a range of study resources, including past papers and solved assignments.

Running head: LEGAL REGULATION COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION
LEGAL REGULATION COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1LEGAL REGULATION COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION
Answer 1
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) 1996 was proposed in
1996 by the United States of America congress to protect the privacy of consumers. As the era
witnessed development in the segment of electronic transmission of health information, hence to
regulate the use of health transmissible data according to the federal law, the USA government
implemented the HIPAA act (HHS HIPAA, 2018). The law was repeated several times until
2002, when the permanent law regarding HIPAA was introduced. The first modification was
done in electronic transactions and codes. Furthermore, the second modification was done in
case of individually recognizable health standards. Thirdly, the health and human services
department of USA government specified protected informations such as protected and de-
identified health informations and informations of which disclosure is permitted. Hence, these
modifications led the consumer to identify the breaching and its section, making the process
easier (HIPAA, 2017).
Answer 2
There are mainly two ways of filing an HIPAA complaint to the Office of Civil Rights or
OCR, by writing a mail and posting that in the ORC complaint portal or using online OCR portal
for the complaint process. In the first scenario, the individual need to write a mail, fax or email
or can sent on OCR complaint portal (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2018).
Further, the individual should mention the name of HIPAA violator (in this case the staff medical
office, who informed the student details to each instructor and staff medical officers) and the
entire incidence in the complaint however; it should be registered within 6 months of the abuse.
On the other hand, the online portal follows the exact process, however; the entire process occurs

2LEGAL REGULATION COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION
in the OCR portal (HHS HIPAA, 2018). Hence, these are the two ways the mentioned student in
the case study can file complaint against the medical instructor, who publically exposed the
medical condition of the student.
Answer 3
As HIPAA violation is one of the crucial violation related to personal and health related
information of patients, the student filing the complaint regarding such violation should focus on
few aspects that are very important in the process (HHS Office of Civil Rights, 2018). The
information of the student regarding the health condition that violated the HIPAA law should be
mentioned properly and within 180 days of time so that the HHS organization can take necessary
actions. Furthermore, the student complaining should describe the entire process or incident of
HIPAA violation in the campus, as it is mentioned in the OCR form that the description and
information plays an important role in the jurisdiction.
Answer 4
If the student filing complaint does not comply with these rules, then as per HHS of USA,
the OCR will unable to proceed with the case and it will take time for the jurisdiction to reach to
any decision. Furthermore, if the student complaining about the breaching of HIPAA, does not
sign the consent page, the entre complaint will lose its value and the HHS will not be able to
carry out any action on the incident (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2018).
Hence, it is important for the student to completely describe each step of violation properly
(discussing the students depression with other instructors) in the OCR form so that proper action
could be taken.

3LEGAL REGULATION COMPLIANCE AND INVESTIGATION
Answer 5
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) 1996 is one of the
important acts of the USA department of Health and Human Services or HHS that protects the
rights of every individual regarding the protection of their personal or health related information.
There are several modifications that have been carried out in the process to make it user-friendly
and convenient, for example implementing different sections of breaching so that identification f
violation become easy (HIPAA, 2017). The case study describes one such situation of HIPAA
breaching where a medical instructor shared the medical condition of a student to the entire
instructors, which is against the law of HIPAA. Hence, while filling up the complaint file, the
student should be conscious so that each information provided to the OCR is correct. This is
because the OCR conducts actions depending on the authentication of the complaint. Hence,
complete concentration and correct details of breaching is needed.

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References
HHS HIPAA. (2018). Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. HHS.gov. Retrieved 17 February
2018, from https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/laws-regulations/
index.html
HHS Office of Civil Rights. (2018). Health Information Privacy Complaint. Hhs.gov. Retrieved
17 February 2018, from
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/
hipcomplaintform.pdf
HIPAA. (2017). HIPAA What to Expect. HHS.gov. Retrieved 17 February 2018, from
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/what-to-expect/index.html
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2018). HIPAA Complaint Process. HHS.gov.
Retrieved 17 February 2018, from
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/complaint-process/index.html