Book review: the ABCs of HIPAA compliance.

• Author: Montana, John
• Position: Book Review

TITLE: HIPAA Privacy Essentials and HIPAA Privacy Implementation Guide

AUTHOR: Privacy Council

ISBN: 1-932214-04-60 (Essentials); 1-932214-05-4 (Implementation)

PUBLISHER: Privacy Council

PUBLICATION DATE: 2002

LENGTH: 373 pages and 452 pages

PRICE: $169 U.S.

SOURCE: ARMA International (www.arma.org/Bookstore)

Healthcare and insurance organizations large and small are faced with the looming April 14, 2003, deadline to become HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)-compliant. If your organization is like many of those, it has only just begun, or perhaps hasn't begun, developing its HIPAA privacy program. Perhaps it has filed for an extension and now is wondering just what it should do. If this applies to your organization, one of the best things it can do is purchase the two-volume loose-leaf set HIPAA Privacy Essentials and HIPAA Privacy Implementation Guide, published by Privacy Council. This set is an A-to-Z HIPAA primer that will get any organization or professional up to speed rapidly.

Still clueless about just what the HIPAA fuss is all about, even at this late date? No problem. The Privacy Essentials volume introduces readers to HIPAA and its privacy rules, as well as to the large body of other privacy law that is out there waiting to trap the unwary. The volume walks users through the actual requirements of the HIPAA regulations, covering all the points that are essential to know if an organization wants to become HIPAA-complaint and what it must do to get there. It also contains handy reprints of the actual rules and informational materials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as a glossary and resource list.

Privacy Essentials ensures readers are well-primed on HIPAA and ready to jump into the Implementation Guide, which takes up right where Privacy Essentials ends. The Implementation Guide walks readers through the entire process of setting up a HIPAA privacy program, from self-assessment and hiring a compliance officer, to implementation and training. For those wondering where they stand, the assessment is particularly valuable. It offers a series of questions on essential points and issues, and when an answer indicates possible trouble, it provides action items to ensure that you make the necessary changes. The implementation section is similarly detailed, covering many specific topics, many of which readers might have overlooked on their own unless they have a very sophisticated...