Welcome!

Hi, and welcome to the course. If you are a safety manager, supervisor, committee member, or someone who is entering into the occupational safety and health field, this course will help you understand your important responsibilities.

Here's how it works (Read this... it's important!)

1. Study each course module. To start, click on the course "Modules" tab above. On average, it takes about 30 minutes to one hour to complete each module, including the module quiz. Take your time and make sure you understand the course material.

2. Complete each module quiz. Each quiz is 5-10 questions. When you submit the quiz, a new web page will load with instant feedback on your answers. After you complete the quiz, start on the next module. There is no need to wait! No hurry either. You are in control of the pace of learning.

If you have questions as you study, just send us an email.


Frame not included.

3. Order an Optional Certificate. If you want certification of your training, order a high quality certificate. Our training is free. We only charge a small fee to provide documentation of your training. If you are enrolled in one of our professional safety and health programs, you can save money by purchasing the program package that fits your needs. If you just want to purchase the certificate for this course, a link will be provided on your student dashboard after you pass the final exam. Just click on the "Purchase Certificate" Link.

   For individual courses, the PDF certificate is only $, the original certificate is $ (shipping extra), and the PDF & original certificate is $ (shipping extra).

4. Complete and submit the final course exam.
• The final exam consists of 20 questions.
• To meet OSHA requirements, you must pass the final exam with at least a 70% score.
• If you do not pass the exam, you may retake the exam.
• If you pass the exam, you may not retake the exam just to raise your score.
• Most final exam questions are derived from module quizzes.

OK, Let's go!

Have fun and study hard. To start, just click on "Introduction" above.

Introduction

HIPAA Law

HIPAA stands for "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act" (HIPAA). President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on August 21, 1996. It is said to be the most significant act of Federal legislation to affect the health care industry since Medicare and Medicaid were rolled out in 1965. The law officially became effective on July 1, 1997.

HIPAA required the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop regulations to protect the privacy and security of certain health information.

Training Requirements

The following is a specific list of who needs to be HIPAA compliant:

• covered healthcare providers (hospitals, clinics, regional health services, individual medical practitioners) who carry out transactions in electronic form
• healthcare clearinghouses (billing services, repricing companies, community health management information systems, information systems, and value-added networks)
• health plans (including insurers, HMOs, Medicaid, Medicare prescription drug card sponsors, flexible spending accounts, public health authority, in addition to employers, schools or universities who collect, store or transmit EPHI, or electronic protected health information)
• the company’s business associates (including private sector vendors and third-party administrators)

Course Components

This course is a summary of key elements of the HIPAA rules and not a complete and comprehensive guide to compliance. Entities regulated by the Rule are obligated to comply with all of its applicable requirements and should not rely on this summary as a source of legal information or advice.

After completing this course, you will have the knowledge of the following components:

• privacy and security rules
• protected healthcare identifiers (PHIs)
• wrongful disclosure of PHI
• personal rights under HIPAA
• protected information
• sharing health information
• how to file a HIPAA complaint
• covered entities
• electronic protected health information
• enforcement and penalties for non-compliance

Modules

To begin your training, click on the module links below. If you are just starting this course, you should start with module 1.

1. HIPAA Overview
2. Your Personal Rights Under HIPAA
3. Health Care Provider Responsibilities

Course 625 Final Exam

Congratulations on finishing the coursework! To pass the exam, you must achieve a minimum score of 70%. It is OSHAcademy's policy to protect the integrity of our exams and, as a result, we do not provide missed questions to students. We do provide missed-question module section references for study should you wish to retake the exam.

After you have studied all of the course material and taken the module quizzes, you can take the final exam. The module quizzes are optional, but we highly recommend you take each quiz, as the questions are similar to those on the final exam.

This is an open book exam. As you are taking the exam, if you find a question you are unsure of, you should use the course study guide or course web pages to research the correct answer. Don't worry if you fail the exam. You can study and retake the exam when you are ready.

Already paid for certificates?

That's great! Your exam score will be displayed in your student dashboard next to the completed course. You will also be able to view or immediately print a course PDF certificate. Your PDF transcript will also be automatically updated to include the course. If you ordered original certificates, they'll be mailed to you.

Only want free training?

That's fine. You're welcome to take all of our courses for free! We only charge a fee if you want certificates, transcripts and exam scores to document your training. We will archive your final exam results so that you can retrieve them later if you decide to purchase official certificates, cards and transcripts.

Course 625 Study Guide. You can save this study guide to your computer for offline studying, or print the study guide if you prefer.

Endnotes

1. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2014). HIPAA and OSHA: Whistleblower Complaints. Retrieved from: www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA-factsheet-HIPPA-whistle.pdf

2. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2006). Health Information Privacy. Retrieved from: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/provider_ffg.pdf

3. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2014). HIPAA Privacy Rule: What Employers Need To Know. Retrieved from: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/summary/privacysummary.pdf

4. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2014a). Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Retrieved from: www.twc.state.tx.us/news/efte/hipaa_basics.html

5. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2014b). Health Information Privacy. Retrieved from: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/

6. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2014c). Sharing Health Information With Family Members and Friends. Retrieved from: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/sharing-family-friends.pdf

7. U.S. Department of Health & Human Resources. (2014d). A Health Care Provider’s Guide to the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Retrieved from: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/provider_ffg.pdf

8. Government of Kansas. (2014). HIPAA. Retrieved from: www.dcf.ks.gov/Agency/Documents/HIPAA-Training.pdf

Additional Resources