What is HIPAA?

HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It is a federal law that requires the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information (PHI) from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

“For the average health care provider or health plan, the Privacy Rule [of this Act] requires activities, such as: Notifying patients about their privacy rights and how their information can be used; Adopting and implementing privacy procedures for its practice, hospital, or plan; Training employees so that they understand the privacy procedures; Designating an individual to be responsible for seeing that the privacy procedures are adopted and followed; and Securing patient records containing individually identifiable health information so that they are not readily available to those who do not need them.” [Source: Department of Health and Human Services]

View our notice of privacy practices:

Notice of Privacy Practices

For answers to Frequently Asked Questions about HIPPA:

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights – HIPPA Page

HIPAA Forms for DCHD