How are patients confidential medical records protected?
Privacy and security regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) protect the confidentiality and security of medical information. The HIPAA privacy rule both safeguards the quality of healthcare and strengthens privacy protections. The privacy rule ensures that patients’ confidential medical information is kept secure from unnecessary disclosure or usage, while still allowing for the needed flow of medical information that is important to quality healthcare. Under the HIPAA privacy rule, covered entitieshospitals, clinicians, health plans, clearinghouses, and business associatesmay only use and disclose certain types of protected health information. This includes identifiable information necessary for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations activities, as well as information used for very limited activities in the public interest. The rule does not restrict information that providers need to treat their patients, but beyond suc
