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HCET Home > On-line Training > HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act > 1. What is HIPAA & Who is Affected
1. What is HIPAA| HIPAA
stands for > |
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It's the single most significant Federal legislation affecting the health care industry since the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1965.
- Title I of the Act improves the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage for millions of American workers and their families.
- Title II provides for administrative simplification that requires the development of standards for the electronic exchange of health care information. Administrative simplification also requires rules to protect the privacy of personal health information and the establishment of security requirements to protect that information and the development of standard identifiers.
Title II of this federal law is being defined and implemented currently. Any organization that has access to patient information and communicates electronically may be subject to HIPAA regulations. Violation of the regulations can result in fines and even prison sentences.
Who Is Affected
All healthcare organizations, including:
- Health care providers (even 1-physician offices)
- Health plans
- Employers
- Public health authorities
- Life insurers
- Clearinghouses
- Billing agencies
- Information systems vendors
- Service organizations
- Universities
- Department of Health and Human Services' PUBLIC LAW 104-191 AUG. 21, 1996 HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 1996
