At Health Information Partners® we understand our clients, most of whom are healthcare providers, must comply with all regulations pertaining to protected health information (PHI). In the normal course of our duties we require access to data elements associated with coding & auditing medical records. This includes patient, provider and medical information. As such, we’ve taken steps to ensure compliance with both the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and HIPAA requirements.

Our policies include, but are not limited to:
All Health Information Partners® employees are required to sign a confidentiality agreement prior to employment. This agreement allows Health Information Partners® the right to terminate employment, if the confidentiality breach is deemed to be significant, harmful or damaging to Health Information Partners® and/or its clients. Our confidentiality agreements also provide sanctions for employees as recommended by HIPAA. All patient and provider specific information that we receive or generate as a result of delivering our services is treated as confidential, and it is not disclosed to those who do not have a need to view it in relation to the services we deliver to our clients. The electronic data is stored on secure computer servers and PC workstations requiring unique user authentication to access.

All patient and provider information that exists in printed format is contained within designated working spaces. Information that requires mailing is secured in a sealed envelope prior to leaving Health Information Partners®’s premises.

All Health Information Partners® Client and Vendor agreements include a Business Associate Addendum. The incorporation of this Addendum ensures that all parties involved in the use and/or disclosure of protected health information to be in compliance and that they will remain in compliance with current HIPAA Regulations. The Addendum also outlines the procedures the parties must follow, with regard to protected health information, upon termination of their Agreements.

In addition:
UNIFORM CODES AND DATA TRANSMISSION
Health Information Partners® accepts data directly from selected clients. Therefore, we are able to receive and re-transmit data to our clients or other parties involved with the delivery of our services in HIPAA compliant formats. With regard to data elements, including CPT and ICD-9 codes, we have a plan to ensure that software is updated with the latest medical data code sets, through our partnership with various encoder vendors and other medical information sources.

We will continue to monitor the latest HIPAA news and legislation to ensure our compliance, where required and as agreed upon with our clients.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY
We understand the importance of safeguarding protected health information.
We also understand that covered entities are required to contract with business associates that will also be handling individually identifiable healthcare data and that policies and procedures must be put in place in order to ensure the privacy and security of such data.

Therefore, we’ve taken the following steps have been taken:
We have designated a Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer has the responsibility for the development and implementation of Health Information Partners®’s policies and procedures. This position also works closely with clients to understand their requirements, and then ensure that Health Information Partners® is in compliance. The Privacy Official is also the person responsible for monitoring the ongoing requirements of HIPAA, if any, and is designated to receive complaints with regard to privacy compliance.

We have established "logging" mechanisms that will document access to protected healthcare information on our computer server.

We have established training programs focused on privacy policies so that our employees learn how to appropriately handle individually identifiable health data according to HIPAA mandates.

We have established procedures to receive and resolve complaints, plus sanctions for employees who fail to comply with privacy policies. Health Information Partners® takes non-compliance with privacy policies seriously, and promotes a zero tolerance policy. We have also established physical safeguards for information, including protection around electronic processing and storage.

For any additional questions or concerns, please contact:
U.S. Healthcare Partners, Inc., dba Health Information Partners®
PO Box 10129
Newport Beach, CA 92660
info@hip-inc.com
Corporate Office Telephone: (866) 622-8300

Additional Website Links:
http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/admnsimp
http://www.hcfa.gov