The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a landmark U.S. federal law enacted in 1996, primarily designed to modernize the flow of healthcare information, stipulate how personally identifiable information maintained by the healthcare and healthcare insurance industries should be protected from fraud and theft, and address limitations on healthcare insurance coverage. Its core mechanism involves setting national standards for the protection of Protected Health Information (PHI) through the Privacy Rule, which governs the use and disclosure of PHI, and the Security Rule, which mandates administrative, physical, and technical safeguards for electronic PHI. HIPAA matters significantly because it builds patient trust, prevents unauthorized data breaches, and enables the secure adoption of digital health technologies. It is primarily used by healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and their business associates, as well as researchers handling health data, to ensure compliance and ethical data practices.
HIPAA is a U.S. law that protects patient health information by setting strict rules for how medical data is handled, stored, and shared. It ensures privacy and security in healthcare, guiding everything from electronic records to advanced AI applications, to prevent misuse and build patient trust.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
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