Before we try to understand why HIPAA is important, it is useful to know what it is and what are its broad contours?
To answer the first part of the question, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was passed in the year 1996 to safeguard the interest of the patients. At that time, it was felt that those individuals who have lost their jobs or were in a vulnerable position in their jobs. Most insurance companies were not providing them with any health cover during this period which created a heavy financial drain on the resources of such individuals. Besides, there was no legislation that protected the sensitive information of the patients from data thieves.
When HIPAA legislation was enacted, it tried to streamline the data protection measures across the healthcare industry. As the healthcare industry is dynamic in nature, this important legislation was also amended a few times to ensure that it remains relevant with the times and is able to tackle those issues that have cropped up with the changing technology. If we look at the broad contours of HIPAA, we will find that it has 5 main rules. Let’s discuss them.
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