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.