HIPAA certification

As per The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which manages Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rule, there is no company entrusted to certify individual as "HIPAA Certified". As HIPAA is a federal regulation, it cannot endorse ANY certification from private entities as “OFFICIAL” certification.
HIPAA requires employees to receive job role based training as per section 164.530(b) of the HIPAA act. Following certification programs will allow individuals to take a training based on their job role to suit their job responsibilities and validate their knowledge so that it is appropriate for individual’s job position. The certification also helps the employer in selecting appropriate employees for their available job positions.
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 associates to ensure HIPAA compliance and ensure that the rules governing this act are followed.
HIPAA Certification for individuals is a program of professional certifications to ensure appropriate HIPAA regulation knowledge. Individual certifications are awarded upon completion of the relevant training and assessment test.
Each certification course costs approximately $75USD to $180USD depending upon the choice of certification. Exams are mainly objective type and usually takes between 1 to 2 hours to complete. The certification assessment exam is an online test, so that can be completed anytime and from anywhere as long as there is an internet connection.
There are many ways of obtaining the HIPAA certification training. One can get trained in a classroom with a group of students led by an instructor where he takes complete responsibility of the training course. Training can also be obtained online with or without the help of an instructor depending upon availability and requirement. The Certification courses usually have extensive / elaborate contents and some of the basic tutorials can guide a candidate to pass the examination, as long as the candidate has the basic knowledge about the HIPAA course of their choice.
There are basically four types of HIPAA certifications that an individual can pursue:
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.
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.
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.
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.
Individuals can earn Continuing Education Unit (CEU) based on the method of training and relevance of the HIPAA certification to their other current professional certifications/license. Individuals like security professional having certifications like Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) & others, privacy professionals like Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and licensed professional like registered nurse (RN), Doctor of Medicine (MD) and others.

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