A Brief Outline of HIPAA By Steven M.

Ziegler The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, passed into law by the United States Congress in 1996, originated in nationwide ongoing concerns about issues of personal privacy, record security, and instances of fraud and inconsistency in medical billing. Before HIPAA, regulation of these matters was haphazard and inconsistent, shared among agencies within each state, and without uniform standards between the federal and state levels. HIPAA recognizes the pervasive and increasing use of electronic storage, retrieval, and transmission of medical records and the need for ensuring the rights of individuals to control access to their own information. HIPAA standards for privacy and security parallel those of existing federal privacy laws and regulations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services bears responsibility for implementing the regulatory provisions of HIPAA and the guidelines for handling protected health care information electronically. The HIPAA privacy provisions require all health care and managed care plans, clearinghouses, and providers to adhere to the acts standards for handling of individually identifiable medical information in electronic formats. The provisions additionally allow individuals access to their own medical records and to ask for corrections as needed. It requires providers and agencies to obtain explicit consent for specific uses of this information. --Based in Hollywood, Florida, the Law Offices of Steven M. Ziegler P.A. provided legal assistance on a variety of compliance and regulatory matters within the managed health care field for more than 20 years. Today, Steven M. Ziegler serves AvMed Health Plans, based in Sunrise, Florida, as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.