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WHAT IS HIPAA?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was signed into law by Congress in 1996. The primary intent and purpose of this law is to protect health insurance coverage for workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs. [For more information on this aspect of HIPAA, see the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) HIPAA Welcome page, and their What Is HIPAA page.]
THE PRIVACY RULE
It was recognized that this new protection would impose additional administrative burdens on health care providers, payers and clearinghouses; and therefore, the law includes "Administrative Simplification" provisions intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. These provisions required the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt national standards for electronic health care transactions. At the same time, Congress recognized that advances in electronic technology could erode the privacy of health information. Consequently, Congress incorporated into HIPAA provisions that mandated the adoption of Federal privacy protections for individually identifiable health information. These provisions are known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
Most doctors' offices have always protected the privacy of their patients. The restrictions of the Privacy Rule are really no more strict than what most offices have practiced for years. But the Privacy Rule gives individuals a new right to be informed of the privacy practices of their health plans and most of their health care providers, as well as to be informed of their privacy rights with respect to their personal health information. Health plans and covered providers are required to develop and distribute a notice that provides a clear explanation of these rights and practices. This is usually called a Notice of Privacy Practices
OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
The Rule also requires that "A covered entity must prominently post and make available its notice on any web site it maintains that provides information about its customer services or benefits." A copy of our Notice is available on our Notice of Privacy Practices page.
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