HIPAA is the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The primary goal of the law is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs.

• Privacy – state of being concealed; secret 
• Confidentiality – containing secret information (medical record)
• Authorization – to give permission for; to grant power to
• Breach Confidentiality – to break an agreement, to violate a promise 

 

Examples of patients Protected Health Information 

• Patients name or address
• Social Security or other ID numbers
• Doctor’s/ Nurse’s personal notes
• Billing information