HIPAA, or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, according to the HHS or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information is the federal protection health information privacy.” This means that any company with any access to one’s personal health information is legally liable for breach or disclosure of this information.

HITECH, or Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, is a supplement to HIPAA. Due to advancements in technology, especially in the health field in the form of systems such as EHR or electronic health records, this privacy and security rule went into effect to provide an extra layer of protection for one’s personal health information. HITECH provides further privacy and security protection by enforcing increased financial penalties to violators.

HIPAA and HITECH are enforced to prevent healthcare service providers or any organization with access to personal health information from unauthorized use, disclosure, security breach, or loss due to misplacement or theft of people’s personal health information. These laws are provided to protect patients from anything from identity theft to integrity entitlement.

HIPAA and HITECH compliance comes in the form of three required safeguards: administrative, physical, and technical, to ensure that one’s personal health information is kept confidential. Non-compliance will result in a fine of up to $50,000 per violation to a maximum of $1.5 million per year.

HCP National provides HIPAA compliance training as well as HIPAA and HITECH liability insurance. HCP National is the liability insurance expert for healthcare: Medical Malpractice, Tech E & O, D & O and Employment Practices Liability. This article is not meant to be legal advice. HCP National is an insurance and risk management training company, not a law firm.