Assignment Task: Please reply by adding to this discussion. Also, reply with a question to them.
Please provide one reference from within the last 5 years. Thank you!
Topic: Describe the relationship between HIPAA and the HITECH Act.
In addition to your description, include how HIPAA and the HITECH Act affect electronic health record (EHR), emerging technologies, and health technology advancements.
HIPAA was created in 1996 in order to protect the privacy and security of PHI(patient health information). It mandated national standards that would be enforced for ePHI (electronic patient health information) which did not exist prior to this time. This means that it fell on state legislation to regulate healthcare providers and PHI which isn't the most reliable venture. However, once HIPAA was established, it paved the way for other healthcare regulation laws to come about. One such healthcare regulation law is HITECH. The HITECH act was signed into law in 2009 and was created to incentivize the use of health information technology. To this end, HITECH provides financial incentives to hospitals and providers for the meaningful use of EHRs. Meaningful use includes but is not limited to, entry of patient demographic information, e-prescribing, clinical decision support, etc. (Burde, 2011). HIPAA set the precedent for other healthcare regulatory laws such as HITECH to follow.