The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 --- also known as HIPAA --- provides consumers, employers and healthcare-related providers with guidelines that address health insurance coverage and the handling of patient information. Under HIPAA, health insurance coverage becomes an individual right with certain protections under the law. These protections address privacy and security requirements regarding the handling of patient information and enact certain rights that determine a person's eligibility for continued health insurance coverage.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 created standards of practice related to privacy of an individual's health information. Employees of covered entities must follow guidelines regarding the appropriate way to handle health information.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) provides federal protection for a person's health information that is held by healthcare professionals such as doctors, dentists, and psychotherapists. HIPAA patient privacy rules govern the use and protection of medical data at health treatment centers such as hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.
HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law passed in 1996 to protect privacy and other health care rights for patients, their medical information, and how it is disclosed.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is one of the benchmarks of the Clinton administration. It is one of the most comprehensive federal laws to date that governs the use of personal medical records.