What is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that was created to protect the privacy of individuals’ health information. HIPAA was signed into law in 1996 in order to protect individuals’ medical records from unauthorized use or disclosure. This legislation ensures that health care providers, health care plans, and other entities that store or handle medical information must adhere to strict standards of privacy when it comes to an individual’s medical information. In Virginia, HIPAA requires that an individual’s medical information is collected and stored in a secure and confidential manner. This information includes any data that pertains to an individual’s past, present, and future health care treatments, diagnoses, and procedures, as well as how an individual’s health insurance is processed. In addition, HIPAA requires that any health care provider who has access to a patient’s medical information must follow strict privacy protocols in order to ensure that the information is not shared with anyone who does not have a legitimate need to know. HIPAA also provides individuals with more control over how their medical information is used and shared. An individual must provide authorization for their health care provider to share their information, and they have the right to revoke that authorization at any time. Furthermore, individuals have the right to check their medical records for accuracy, and they can request that any incorrect information be corrected. Lastly, HIPAA also requires organizations that store medical information to have security measures in place to protect the information from unauthorized access or use.
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