Privacy Policy
To improve efficiency and
effectiveness of the health care system, the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, Public Law 104-191, included
“Administrative Simplification” provisions that required the Department of
Health and Human Services to adopt national standards for electronic health
care transactions. At the same time,
Congress recognized that advances in electronic technology could erode the
privacy of health information.
Consequently, Congress incorporated into HIPAA provisions that mandated
the adoption of Federal privacy protections for individually identifiable
health information.
The
new privacy regulations ensure a national floor of privacy protections for
patients by limiting the ways that health plans, pharmacies, hospitals and
other covered entities can use patient’s personal medical information. The regulations protect medical records and
other individually identifiable health information, whether it is on paper, in
computers or communicated orally. Key
provisions of these new standards include: Access to Medical Records, Notice of
Privacy Practices, Limits on Use of Personal Medical Information, Prohibition
on Marketing, Stronger State Laws, Confidential Communications, and
Complaits. Consumers can find out more
information at
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa
or by calling (866) 627-7748.
