User:Roopashri/sandbox

'HIPAA Certification'

HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was enacted in 1996 by the US Government to secure Patient Health Information. There are two titles of this federal law, Title I that that provides complete protection to the patients and their families when they change or lose their employment and Title II that requires establishing national identifiers and strict rules to regulate the process of electronic health transactions between the employers, health insurances and providers. This act encouraged electronic transactions thereby improving the standards of entire healthcare system in US.

As the importance of this HIPAA act mounted, it was made mandatory for all Health related organizations & their business assocaites to ensure HIPAA compliance and ensure that the rules governing this act are followed.

There are basically four types of HIPAA certifications that an individual can pursue:

1.	Certified HIPAA Privacy Associate (CHPA) – For those who are completely unaware of HIPAA and want to gain an overview of the HIPAA law at an entry level. This certification is recommended for employees who need basic training.

2.	Certified HIPAA Privacy Expert (CHPE) – A certification that stresses on the “Privacy” aspect of the HIPAA law, is for those who know about the basics of HIPAA and need to gain an expert level knowledge about its Privacy rules. This HIPAA certification is recommended for HR manager, HIPAA privacy compliance team members.

3.	Certified HIPAA Security Expert (CHSE) – A certification that stresses on the “Security” aspect of the HIPAA law, is for those who need to gain and expert level knowledge about its Security rules. This HIPAA certification is recommended for the IT staff, members of HIPAA security compliance team.

4.	Certified HIPAA Privacy Security Expert (CHPSE) – A comprehensive certification that stresses on both “Privacy and Security” aspect of the HIPAA law at an expert level. This HIPAA certification is recommended for HIPAA compliance officer, HIPAA privacy officer, HIPAA security officer, HIPAA consultants, IT consultants etc.