HIPAA – 3 Certifications You Can Take
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has a very large number of laws dealing with different aspects of healthcare insurance and related issues. As the laws are amended and its base expands, it becomes difficult to understand its various provisions which can impede its use.
But now you can take a number of courses and get a certification after successfully completing the same. Like any other academic courses you will be required to complete the chosen course within a specific time frame and will also have to follow the additional rules of the particular institute or body at all times, or else your certification can be revoked.
Following are 3 HIPAA courses that you can apply for.
• Certified HIPAA Professional (CHP): CHP is a comprehensive course whose curriculum begins with an introduction to HIPAA and includes various technical and physical safeguards in addition to the measures to be taken from an administrative point of view. In addition to the standards laid down by HIPAA for proper Electronic Transaction, the course also comprises of advanced topics with respect to privacy and security. Administrative Simplification, transactions and code sets, security and privacy are the 4 areas that are emphasized in the CHP course which offers a good balance between getting an overview of the Act and going in detail to cover the key areas of the law.
• Certified Security Compliance Specialist (CSCS): CSCS will provide you with a substantial skill set with respect to security regulations and standards. The detailed curriculum covers security and compliance, digital healthcare, security for financial services, business continuity planning, cyber security strategy, and the U.S. Government requirements at the state and national levels as well as knowledge of relevant ISO standards. The course stresses on 5 key areas that in addition to the above curriculum includes a knowledge of International security standards besides National and state standards. Furthermore it encompasses Financial Regulations too. As you can see this course is much more detailed and advanced with a focus on security compliance.
• Certified HIPAA Administrator (CHA): The CHA course leans to the actual working side of HIPAA and can be extremely useful for healthcare provider employees like nurses and those doing administrative work at insurance companies and clearing houses. Besides introducing HIPAA the course covers the privacy topics in great detail. Administrative Simplification is of course one of the included areas of this course, the other one being the privacy angles because administrators are constantly required to handle sensitive personal data of patients and must know all aspects of its safety and disclosure.
There are other courses, too, with each one of them focussing on different aspects of HIPAA. You can select an online or in-class course depending on your learning style. Before taking up any course you must clarify the specific rules regarding timelines and how you can appear for a re-exam. The courses can not only help to increase your understanding about the extensive rules and regulations of HIPAA but can also be useful in a career that is related to healthcare or insurance and has to deal with this particular Act.