Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a US law that was enacted in 1996. It is designed to protect the privacy and security of health-related information and to ensure the portability of health insurance coverage.

HIPAA has several key provisions, including:

The HIPAA Privacy Rule: This rule sets standards for the protection of individuals’ health information and provides guidelines for the use and disclosure of that information by covered entities (such as healthcare providers, health plans, and clearinghouses).

The HIPAA Security Rule: This rule sets standards for the security of electronic health information and requires covered entities to implement safeguards to protect against unauthorized access, use, disclosure, and destruction of that information.

The HIPAA Omnibus Rule: This rule, which was issued in 2013, made several updates to HIPAA, including strengthening the protections for individuals’ health information and increasing the penalties for HIPAA violations.

The HIPAA Administrative Simplification provisions: These provisions set standards for the electronic transmission of health-related information and require covered entities to use standardized formats for certain types of health-related information.

Overall, HIPAA is an important law that is designed to protect the privacy and security of individuals’ health information and to ensure the portability of health insurance coverage.