What is HIPAA?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that mandates national standards in the health care industry to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. HIPAA’s (Title II) administrative-simplification provisions require the establishment of national standards for how health plans handle:

• Privacy of protected health information (PHI)
• Security of protected health information (PHI)
• Electronic transmission of health care data