In their law practices, attorneys can regularly handle sensitive patient information that's protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Lawyers have a duty and responsibility to safeguard such information or face severe penalties for noncompliance.

This article summarizes a webinar we hosted for the Law Firm Alliance's Employment Community. It lays out some HIPAA basics that are helpful for employment attorneys to understand, starting with three aspects associated with HIPAA.

What is HIPAA?

• Privacy Rule - attempts to protect the privacy of patients by restricting the allowable uses and disclosures of protected health information (PHI):
  • Stipulates when, with whom, and under what circumstances PHI may be shared
  • Gives patients the right to obtain and examine their health records
  • Gives patients the right to direct covered entities’ disclosures to third parties
  • Gives patients the right to request corrections to health records
• Security Rule - attempts to ensure that PHI a covered entity creates, receives, maintains, or transmits electronically is appropriately secured
• Breach Notification Rule - requires notification of a breach of PHI

The HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to everyone, and it does not apply to everything. Instead, the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to covered entities and business associates. Within that context, the HIPAA Privacy Rule generally only applies to PHI.

Who Must Comply with HIPAA Regulations?

For HIPAA, a...

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