1
Policy and Future Trends Interview
Elizabeth McCoy
Grand Canyon University
HLT-205-0500: Health Care Systems and Transcultural Health Care
Professor Sven Olson
February 13, 2022
, 2
Using a computer or surfing the web is like the wild west nowadays. Going onto your
Facebook or Instagram page can also be hazardous. The owners of these sites have no
consideration for their users’ privacy. The internet or your local Target Master Card has been
hacked, thereby stealing millions of users’ information putting your financial information out on
the black market for sale to the highest bidder. Fortunately, Health care records are one thing that
is protected from these hazards through the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPPA). To get better insight into the HIPPA system, I conducted an interview with
Tamika Swearingen, Case Manager at Southern Hills Hospital. Many questions were answered
regarding the HIPPA law from a health professional’s point of view of what HIPPA is, the HIPPA
Privacy Rule, and who it protects.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal law enacted in 1996.
As Tamika Swearingen, a Case Manager (2022), stated, the purpose of this policy is to put in
place regulations that are required to provide the patient with privacy regarding their health care
information. HIPPA requires organizations that use patients’ health care information to protect
their data and the systems that store, transmit and process this information.
The protected information is called Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI consists of
name, city, telephone/fax number, birth date, social security number/medical number/ or
admission/discharge dates. Protection through HIPPA is a very serious thing. Enforcement of
HIPPA is conducted by The Office for Civil Rights. This enforcement is conducted in many
ways. First, they begin by investigating filed complaints; next, a compliance review is performed
to determine if covered entities comply with the requirements of the rules (Health, n.d. as cited in
Anderson, 2010). While talking to Tamika Swearingen, she mentioned how HIPPA impacts her
hospital because their policy is such that every patient feels safe that their information is not
Policy and Future Trends Interview
Elizabeth McCoy
Grand Canyon University
HLT-205-0500: Health Care Systems and Transcultural Health Care
Professor Sven Olson
February 13, 2022
, 2
Using a computer or surfing the web is like the wild west nowadays. Going onto your
Facebook or Instagram page can also be hazardous. The owners of these sites have no
consideration for their users’ privacy. The internet or your local Target Master Card has been
hacked, thereby stealing millions of users’ information putting your financial information out on
the black market for sale to the highest bidder. Fortunately, Health care records are one thing that
is protected from these hazards through the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPPA). To get better insight into the HIPPA system, I conducted an interview with
Tamika Swearingen, Case Manager at Southern Hills Hospital. Many questions were answered
regarding the HIPPA law from a health professional’s point of view of what HIPPA is, the HIPPA
Privacy Rule, and who it protects.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal law enacted in 1996.
As Tamika Swearingen, a Case Manager (2022), stated, the purpose of this policy is to put in
place regulations that are required to provide the patient with privacy regarding their health care
information. HIPPA requires organizations that use patients’ health care information to protect
their data and the systems that store, transmit and process this information.
The protected information is called Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI consists of
name, city, telephone/fax number, birth date, social security number/medical number/ or
admission/discharge dates. Protection through HIPPA is a very serious thing. Enforcement of
HIPPA is conducted by The Office for Civil Rights. This enforcement is conducted in many
ways. First, they begin by investigating filed complaints; next, a compliance review is performed
to determine if covered entities comply with the requirements of the rules (Health, n.d. as cited in
Anderson, 2010). While talking to Tamika Swearingen, she mentioned how HIPPA impacts her
hospital because their policy is such that every patient feels safe that their information is not
