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.
References
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
