HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) passed by Congress in 1996 does the following:

• Provides the ability to transfer and continue health insurance coverage for millions of American workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs
• Reduces health care fraud and abuse
• Mandates industry-wide standards for health care information on electronic billing and other processes
• Requires the protection and confidential handling of protected health information
  
  

The Office for Civil Rights enforces the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information; the HIPAA Security Rule, which sets national standards for the security of electronic protected health information; the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule, which requires covered entities and business associates to provide notification following a breach of unsecured protected health information; and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule, which protect identifiable information being used to analyze patient safety events and improve patient safety.