Frequently Asked Questions: HIPAA

What is HIPAA, and how does it help protect my medical record?
The federal government passed a law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. HIPAA required the creation of standards to help protect your personal health information.

How does the HIPAA Security Rule help keep my medical record secure?
The HIPAA Security Rule requires health care providers to implement certain physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect the privacy of your medical records so that they can not be accidentally or illegally read, altered, shared or destroyed.

How does the HIPAA Privacy Rule help protect my privacy?
The HIPAA Privacy Rule went into effect in 2003. It created national standards to help protect the privacy of your personal health information by doing the following:

• It gives patients more control over their health information.
  
• It sets boundaries on the use and release of health records.
  
• It establishes safeguards that health care providers must meet to help protect the privacy of health information.
  
• It balances the need for patient privacy with public health needs.
  
• It generally gives patients the right to look at and get a copy of their health record and to ask that errors be corrected.