{"id":14791,"date":"2021-01-28T15:07:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T21:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/?p=14791"},"modified":"2024-05-06T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T19:30:05","slug":"what-is-hipaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/finance\/what-is-hipaa.html","title":{"rendered":"What is HIPAA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice.<\/em> See Lexington Law\u2019s editorial disclosure for more information.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this article, you\u2019re probably wondering what HIPAA is and how it can help you. In 1996, the federal government passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This law looked to protect sensitive customer information from being shared without a person\u2019s knowledge or consent. National standards were established for electronic healthcare transactions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies that work with protected health information (PHI) must have security processes to ensure they\u2019re HIPAA compliant. This applies to anyone who provides treatment, processes payments or has other operations in healthcare, as well as their business associates who must access patient information. This helps to protect American citizens in addition to reducing the incidents of healthcare fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, HIPAA allows American workers and their families to continue to receive health insurance coverage after losing or changing jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does HIPAA cover?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

HIPAA is quite extensive and covers many areas. Some of the more important rules are the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HIPAA Privacy Rule<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The HIPAA Privacy Rule was initially proposed in 1999<\/a> and approved in late 2000. This rule requires that medical records and personal health information in health plans, with healthcare clearinghouses and with healthcare providers are protected with safeguards. This applies to electronic, written and oral health information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The HIPAA Privacy Rule also sets limits on how this private information can be used and disclosed without patient approval. A patient must give approval before their health information is shared with a third party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, the rule also gives patients the right to obtain a copy of their health records to examine them and make requests for necessary corrections. You can also receive a report on when your health information was shared, with whom and for what reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HIPAA Security Rule<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The HIPAA Security Rule was proposed in 1998<\/a> and approved in early 2003. This rule protects people\u2019s personal health information that is maintained, received, created or used by a covered entity. The rule focuses on protecting the information that\u2019s stored or shared in electronic form. Similar to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, the Security Rule requires applicable entities to maintain reasonable security measures to protect this data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Security Rule is like an add-on to the Privacy Rule, requiring all applicable entities to have security measures in place that will protect private information as it\u2019s shared or stored electronically. Within the Security Rule are clear guidelines that companies must follow to safeguard health information and remain compliant (for electronic information only)\u2014for example, requiring authentication to log onto a private network that contains PHI. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who has to comply with HIPAA?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All \u201ccovered entities\u201d have to comply with the HIPAA. These entities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n