The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a law that is used to
protect patient health information. This law is needed so patient’s information is kept private.
When a patient plan is given to the wrong patient, the other patient now knows that patient’s
medications, date of birth and or diagnosis. When this happens, both patients can lose the trust in
the medical system. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH)
Act, helps enforce HIPAA regulations. HITECH addresses the privacy and security concerns
associated with the electronic transmission of health information as discussed by OCR. No patient
wants their information given to the wrong person. By having laws in place to protect patient
information, healthcare organizations must follow them to show their integrity and to keep the
confidence of the patients.
The healthcare industry encompasses the most compromising information we possess as
individuals. Our private, personal, and financial information is required to receive healthcare
services in many places. Therefore, it is imperative that there are laws in place that protect the
information we must share. Laws can ease the fear of sharing your information. The United States
legal system have many laws that impact the health information system that protects patient
health information system. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is a
federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health
information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. The Privacy Rule
standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information (known as “protected
health information”) by entities subject to the Privacy Rule (Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) | CDC, n.d.). Healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare
clearing houses, and business associates are covered by the privacy rule. The covered entity is not
required to use and disclose a patient's protected health information. However, they do have
permission in some situations to do so without a patient's authorization.
A law that is in place to protect patient health information is (HIPAA) The Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It protects patients’ health information. The Privacy Rule
gives you rights with respect to your health information. The Privacy Rule sets limits on how your
health information can be used and shared with others. The Security Rule sets rules for how your
health information must be kept secure with administrative, technical, and physical safeguards.
These laws are necessary to keep all personal information secure such as phone numbers,
addresses, billing information and social security number safe and secure.
The U.S. Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996. Rules
were added over time focusing on the protection of sensitive patient information. The HIPAA
Privacy Rule establishes standards for protecting patients for protecting patients'medical records
and other PHI. The HIPAA Security Rule explains how healthcare providers must comply with rules
that keep your data secure. These laws are necessary because it will help the organization protect
patient safety and privacy and continue effective delivery of high-quality care. Concerning laws
that govern health information management on of the major ones to protect patient information is
called HIPPA. It’s called the health insurance portability, and accountability act. The main goal of
this act is to create standards that safeguard patient information, and develop procedures to
protect information if the information needs to be shared among providers or other parties
relating to the patient. I think that healthcare laws are important because it protects patients’
privacy, and information form unwanted parties, and sets up a guide on how patient information
should be maintained, and handled in a growing digital world overall.
A law in place to protect patient health information is the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996, known as HIPAA. The security rule within HIPAA ensures integrity,
availability, and confidentiality of electronic patient health information. It requires administrative,
physical, technical, organizational and policy safeguards be in place to protect health information
(Brodnik et al, 2017). e
Also within HIPAA is the privacy rule, which was enacted in 2003. This rule protects the privacy and
confidentiality of patient health information. It also limits access to records and includes individual
rights to health information (Brodnik et al, 2017).
This law is important because everyone has a right to privacy and control of their medical records.
Privacy can help prevent discrimination in many settings. Health Information Management (HIM)
professionals have a duty to follow ethical guidelines set in place by the HIPAA law and the
American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA, 2019). e
The healthcare information management system is closely monitored by the United States legal
system. Without this legal system in place the healthcare system would have taken a turn for the
worst a long time ago. HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 is
the major law in place that everyone thinks of when it comes to protecting patient’s health
records. This act protects patient’s rights to their own health records, and also covers patients’
privacy, security and any breaches that could happen in the electronic health care world. The
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that required
the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being
disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. The US Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) issued the HIPAA Privacy Rule to implement the requirements of HIPAA. The HIPAA
Security Rule protects a subset of information covered by the Privacy Rule.
The Privacy Rule standards address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information
(known as “protected health information”) by entities subject to the Privacy Rule. These individuals
and organizations are called “covered entities.” The Privacy Rule also contains standards for
individuals’ rights to understand and control how their health information is used. A major goal of
the Privacy Rule is to ensure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while
allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care
and to protect the public’s health and well-being. The Privacy Rule strikes a balance that permits
important uses of information while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing.
Privacy laws are important for patient's so they know their records are safe and they have control
of them and that the data can only be used in ways agreed to. e
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, September 14). Health Insurance Portability
and accountability act of 1996 (HIPAA). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved May
3, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html
AHIMA. (2019). AHIMA Code of Ethics. https://bok.ahima.org/PdfView?oid=302769
Brodnik, M., Rinehart-Thompson, L., & Reynolds, R. (2017). Fundamentals of law for health
informatics and information management (3rd ed.). American Health Information Management
Association.
What privacy and security laws protect patients' health information? HealthIT.gov. (2018,
November 13). Retrieved April 27, 2022, from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-privacy-and-
security-laws-protect-patients-health-information
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) | CDC. (n.d.). CDC. Retrieved
May 7, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/hipaa.html
OCR. (2021, June 28). Hitech Act Enforcement Interim Final Rule. HHS.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2022,
from https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/hitech-act-enforcement-interim-
final-rule/index.html
