aura and hitech patient portal

Full Answer

How do patient portals work?

Patient portals enabled individuals to electronically communicate with their providers, view their clinical notes, and electronically share their health information with a health care provider. In 2020, about 6 in 10 patient portal users reported exchanging secure messages with a health care provider through their portal. Half of portal users reported viewing clinical notes written by a health care provider. The share of individuals who electronically shared their health information with a healthcare provider increased by seven percentage points (from 10 percent to 17 percent) from 2017. However, rates of individuals electronically transmitting their data to an app or service remains low (5 percent).

How many people will access the Patient Portal in 2020?

About six in 10 individuals nationwide were offered access to their patient portal and nearly 40 percent accessed their record at least once in 2020.

What is the figure 7 of the Patient Portal?

Figure 7: Rate of individuals accessing and using their patient portal by whether their health care provider encouraged them, 2020.

Will the patient portal change in 2020?

Individuals’ rates of being offered and subsequently accessing their patient portal increased significantly between 2018 and 2019, but did not change in 2020. About 6 in 10 individuals nationwide were offered access to their patient portal by a health care provider or insurer, and nearly 4 in 10 individuals (38 percent) reported that they accessed their portal at least once in 2020.

What are the privacy concerns of patient portals?

The main privacy issues involve the aforementioned patient right of access and their right to request correction and/or amendment.

Who requests access to a person?

The request is by a personal representative , and access is reasonably likely to cause harm to the individual or another.

How to keep HIPAA compliance documentation?

Jon included tabs in the three-ring binder for everything that you need to document and a checklist for each tab. I recommend adding the date that you check off each item in each checklist, as one of our clients suggested to us.

Why are portals important?

Allowing patients to make appointments themselves on the portal and request medication refills helps streamline otherwise time-consuming tasks. Improve communications.

What is access likely to endanger?

The access is reasonably likely to endanger the life or physical safety of the individual or another.

What is family access?

Provide access to family members to perform functions on behalf of the patient.

Is the patient portal a form?

The patient portal will not be every patient’s requested form or format. Thus, the covered entity must continue to provide alternatives, such as hard copies, CDs, or email attachments.

What is multifactor authentication?

Multifactor authentication, known as MFA, requires users to provide multiple ways to authenticate that it is them, such entering as a password in combination with a fingerprint scan, or a password in combination with a code sent to their phone for one-time use.

What Must be Done to Secure Patient Portals under the HIPAA Security Rule?

Under the Security Rule, healthcare organizations must implement “reasonable and appropriate” cybersecurity measures to prevent data breaches. “Reasonable and appropriate” cybersecurity measures are those measures, taken within reason, that are proper under the circumstances.

How can covered entities address their obligations under the HIPAA Security Rule?

Covered entities can address their obligations under the HIPAA Security Rule by working with Compliancy Group to develop required Security Rule safeguards.

What is an EPHI?

ePHI is defined as any protected health information (PHI) that is created, stored, transmitted, or received in any electronic format or media.

How many patient records have been breached in 2019?

Through the first half of June of 2019, 25 million patient records have already been breached. Many of these breaches have been caused by hackers, who sell patient records on the black market and dark web. In light of these startling figures, MFA is an eminently reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measure.

What is the person or entity authentication standard?

One standard with which covered entities and business associates must comply is known as the Person or Entity Authentication standard. This standard requires an organization to “Implement procedures to verify that a person or entity seeking access to electronic protected health information is the one claimed.”.