What is HIPAA?
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996. It requires all agencies that deal
with medical records to keep patient information confidential.
The basic requirements of the privacy regulation apply to
“protected health information” (PHI) which is defined as
“individually identifiable health information” that is
transmitted by electronic media, maintained in any medium that
is defined as electronic media, or transmitted or maintained in
any other form or medium. In effect, this includes all health
information, whether electronic, paper or oral.