How to Read about HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is a set of regulations intended to keep a patient's health care information private. Many types of information are protected from disclosure by HIPAA, and its rules govern all of the health care processes from hospitals to accounting offices. Reading about HIPAA is a must for all health care professionals.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Access the U.S. Deptartment of Health and Human Services website. The HHS site is the authority on HIPAA. The HHS site outlines what the HIPAA laws cover and do not cover.
2. Click into the Office For Civil Rights page. This is the agency that holds the HIPAA materials on the website.
3. Click on Privacy of Health Information home page. This will bring you to the HHS comprehensive list of HIPAA resources. Several subsections exist and they are grouped in short columns on the page. Some are fact sheets and some are links or other resources.
4. Review the Educational Materials section that shows the extent and jurisdiction of HIPAA regulations. You can read the sections that most apply to your role in HIPAA compliance.
5. Under the What's New tab on the far left, you can read about the newest developments and how HHS enforces HIPAA compliance.
6. Supplement your reading of the HHS site with other online materials. Many pages have their own renditions of what HIPAA compliance means. A search for HIPAA will reveal the diverse practices of medical offices and probably a few humorous anecdotes.

Tips & Warnings

• In addition to the HHS site, health care providers are required to hand out HIPAA brochures when they treat a patient. These can be kept for further reading. They are sometimes more succinct and applicable than what is on the HHS site.