Whenever the topic of health and medical data comes up, the prevailing assumption often is that any of this information is subject to the ...

Learn about the five major titles, the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and steps to protect your health information.

However, understanding the importance of HIPAA compliance and the potential consequences of violations also can help protect the health care providers who care for them.

The first thing to understand is that HIPAA pertains ONLY to “covered entities,” which include health care providers (such as EMTs, doctors, nurses and social workers) and insurance companies.

This is because HIPAA and other privacy laws require them not to release any more information than is needed to keep people safe.Portions of this article originally appeared in a previous article ...

So HIPAA, HIPAA applies to certain health care providers, to health plans, like insurance companies, or Medicaid plans, and certain entities that deal in the transmission of medical information.

HIPAA: The federal law many people don't actually understand Not "HIPPA", not "HIPPO," but HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.