HIPAA compliance is not a very difficult concept to understand. Basically, you don't share a patient's medical information with anyone who is not the patient or has not been nominated by the patient. Examples of HIPAA compliance in a medical office include physical patient records that are kept under lock and key, secure from unauthorized persons, and electronic files that can only be evaluated by password. Compliance in a reception setting may include having a conversation behind closed doors rather than at the reception or returning a patient's chart to maintain anonymity. Any establishment found to be non-compliant, either unconsciously or knowingly, is exposed to several levels of consequences, up to and including imprisonment and loss of one's professional license. (Better Credit Today, 2017; Edwards, 2017); Go Telecare, 2017; HIPAA Journal, 2017; Indiana University, 2017; MB Guide, 2017).Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “In recent years, the federal government has made it more difficult for a medical provider to simply ruin your credit” (Better Credit Today, 2017). That being said, medical billers should be careful when disclosing necessary information about a patient's debt. If information regarding a patient's medical history were to be disclosed to a collection agency and the patient was able to prove that the information constituted a violation of his or her HIPAA rights, legal action could result. The only information that needs to be given to a debt collector is the amount of the bill and who it should be paid to. This should only happen once established billing cycles have been achieved without payment from the patient. (Better Credit Today, 2017; Edwards, 2017); Go Telecare, 2017; HIPAA Journal, 2017; Indiana University, 2017; Guide MB, 2017). The consequences of non-compliance with HIPAA could result in severe penalties and courses of action that are best left untested. This involves civil and criminal penalties. The consequences are classified into four categories and each category has its own distinct penalty. Category 1 indicates that the violator was unaware and could not avoid committing the violation. This carries a fine of $100 to $50,000 per violation. Category 2 states that the violator should have noticed the violation but that the negligence did not constitute an act of violation. This category carries a penalty of $1,000 per violation and up to $50,000. Category 3 is where an offender attempted to correct their error, but the error was not corrected. This carries fines of $10,000 to $50,000 per violation. Category 4 is willful negligence without any attempt to correct the violation. The fine for this category starts at $50,000 per violation. (Better Credit Today, 2017; Edwards, 2017); Go Telecare, 2017; HIPAA Journal, 2017; Indiana University, 2017; MB Guide, 2017). A patient's billing information is not protected by HIPAA guidelines; sharing information with a collection agency therefore does not constitute a violation. As protected as medical information is, medical debt information is not protected. In addition, it is not necessary to inform the debtor of the sending of a debt for collection. (Better Credit Today, 2017; Edwards, 2017); Go Telecare, 2017; HIPAA Journal, 2017; Indiana University, 2017; MB Guide, 2017). Keep in mind: this is just one, 2017).