By guest blogger Bill Rowe, Director of Content Development, Emergency Care

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly referred to as HIPAA, is a federal law that was enacted to improve the provision of healthcare in the United States. An important part of the law was the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which is designed to protect the confidentiality of patient information by those who have access to it. Compliance with the requirements of the Privacy Rule is the responsibility of organizations who deal with Protected Health Information.

Compliance takes a comprehensive organizational effort and a critical part of that effort is to train organizational members or employees about how to handle confidential medical information. Emergency response organizations that have access to patient information, such as fire departments and EMS agencies, clearly must comply with HIPAA confidentiality requirements. Failure to do so can result in punitive actions against the organization.

Recently, West Georgia Ambulance, Inc., a company that provides ambulance services in Carroll County, Georgia, payed $65,000 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to settle potential HIPAA violations. The company also agreed to take corrective actions as part of the settlement. One of the potential violations uncovered in an HHS investigation was the company’s failure to provide a security and awareness training program.

Certainly, training is only a portion of effective HIPAA compliance, but an essential component for an organization to have.

We can help.

24-7 EMS has partnered with PWW Media from Page, Wolfberg, and Wirth to bring you an online version of their HIPAA TV 2.0 training program, designed specifically for EMS organizations and providers. This is the most popular HIPAA training solution being used by EMS organizations in the United States today.

Now with the convenience of online delivery, you can assign online training that your members or employees can take within their busy schedules. Verification and reporting of completed training is easy to do online, along with other administrative functions.

Click here to see a video preview and find more information on PWW Media HIPAA TV 2.0 online training, brought to you by 24-7 EMS.