Protected Health Information Lawyer Cleveland OH
A Protected Health Information Lawyer Cleveland OH clients trust at Mishkind Kulwicki Law Co, L.P.A. counsels on state and federal laws related to security, confidentiality, and privacy healthcare needs. If you have questions regarding your HIPAA security and privacy obligations, or to talk about resolutions for a breach, we urge you to call us right away. Any breach in HIPAA may result in penalties enforced by the state and federal government. In addition to that, patients whose information was hacked may file a lawsuit for compensation. To learn more about how to remain in compliance with HIPAA regulations, call our law firm today.
At Mishkind Kulwicki Law Co, L.P.A., our services include but may not be limited to the following:
- Reviewing HIPAA violation arrangements
- Responding to complaints of HIPAA issues
- Drafting agreements between business associates
- Deciding whether HIPAA is applicable to your medical practice
- Customizing policies and procedures for HIPAA based on your practice and area of medical expertise
- Creating HIPAA procedures and policies for telemedicine or mobile apps
Expectations Under HIPAA
As your Ohio Protected Health Information Lawyer in Cleveland can review with you, states have their own set of confidentiality and privacy laws. Providers who are not categorized under HIPAA will still be bound by these regulations. HIPAA applies to business associates and covered entities, and can include:
- Most Health Care Providers: those who send healthcare details electronically to health insurance companies. These health care providers may entail clinics, hospitals, doctors, chiropractors, pharmacies, dentists, psychologists, and other related medical providers.
- Health Plans: HMOs, health insurance companies, company health plans, and government programs (ex: Medicare and Medicaid).
- Health Care Clearinghouses: parties that process health nonstandard information received from another entity into a standard electronic platform or data content.
Under HIPAA and the United States Department of Human Services (HHS), a covered entity must have privacy personnel, privacy policies and procedures, workforce management and training, mitigation, complaints, data safeguards, documentation and record retention, and no retaliation and waiver. It is imperative that an entity has a process and point person for handling complaints about compliance with privacy rules.
How Your Information Should Be Protected
A medical facility must have appropriate and reasonable safeguards to reduce the likelihood of breaches, hackers, and entry errors. Examples of protections that can be established include shredding patient documents that have vulnerable health information on them, securing paper medical records with a passcode or locks, and limiting access to this information to only select staff members.
It is your medical professional’s job to keep all of your information safe and private. If you find out that one of your doctors was speaking about your medical condition to someone else without your permission, this is cause for concern. There are certain rights that you have to protect your own health. If this is violated, you need to take action so that it does not happen again or happen to anyone else.
How Can You Share Your Information with Others?
You must tell your medical care professionals if you want to share your information with anyone else. You will likely need to sign paperwork giving the release of your data. This includes other family members, friends who may help care for your medical needs, and other healthcare professionals. Your medical records are difficult to obtain unless you give permission, which is a good thing because it gives you the privacy you deserve.
What Kind of Damages Can You Seek?
In a case involving protected health information, the main damages that people seek are emotional distress. This is because their privacy was breached and their HIPAA rights were violated. If someone’s privacy has been breached, information that they wanted to keep private has been shared with others. Your health should be in your hands, and your hands alone. You should be able to trust the medical professionals you are working with to keep your information secure and private. This is a very basic right that needs to be protected. If your personal information is leaked, it could affect your own personal life and your relationship with others. Some people do not want others to know that they are sick so that they will not be treated differently. Others may be trying to hide a diagnosis because of work reasons or so limitations are not placed upon them by others. The reason why you want your healthcare information to be private should not matter. You can seek emotional damages in this case no matter what, as your records should have been protected from the beginning. Contact a lawyer to determine what damages you can seek in this case. There may be other damages that you can collect; a protected health information lawyer will be able to determine what rights were violated and how to proceed in a way that a judge might find favorable in court.
Mishkind Kulwicki Co, L.P.A.
We understand the importance of protecting patient data, as the repercussions for any breaches can be costly and tarnish a medical facility’s reputation within the community. For assistance regarding electronic health records and HIPAA compliance, don’t hesitate to call a Cleveland, OH Protected Health Information Lawyer from Mishkind Kulwicki Co, L.P.A. today. We can set up a consultation to go over your case to see how you want to move forward. You may be able to settle without ever going to court, or it may be more beneficial to take your case to court if the settlement amount does not seem fair.