The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) regulate and protect Personal Health Information, or PHI.

Here, we explain HIPAA and HITECH in detail, and help you understand how to maintain and properly destroy your documents to ensure that your company or medical practice complies with these critical laws.

HIPAA definition

HIPAA – Tips from an Expert

by | September 27, 2021 | HIPAA/HITECH | 5 min read
HIPAA was enacted in 1996, and stands for the health insurance portability and accountability act. It’s one of the most important pieces of legislation to ever deal with personal identifiable information (PII) in healthcare. We’ve already written about HIPAA extensively in the past, but we thought we’d take it...
Hipaa and medical waste

Does HIPAA Apply to Medical Waste?

by | Updated May 27, 2021 | HIPAA/HITECH | 4 min read
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is primarily designed to enforce security of patient information by setting standards for protecting health information and holding the healthcare industry accountable for security. Enacted in 1996, the Department of Health and Human Services states that according to HIPAA, covered entities...
Doctor Files

HIPAA Shredding and Retention Requirements

by | Updated March 17, 2021 | HIPAA/HITECH | 4 min read
HIPAA: A Brief Background The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), first signed into law in 1996, was created to benefit employees in between jobs with the improvement of “portability and accountability of health insurance coverage.” Prior to this act, there was no clear enforcement or guidance for...

Is PII protected by HIPAA?

by | Updated December 4, 2015 | HIPAA/HITECH | 3 min read
Personal identifiable information is any information that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, either alone or combined with other easily accessible sources to uniquely identify a person. Some PII is classified as sensitive and some information is not. PII is considered sensitive when it is...
Doctors office HIPAA Shredding Requirements

HIPAA Shredding Requirements

by | Updated April 6, 2022 | HIPAA/HITECH | 3 min read
A Brief HIPAA Background Personal Health Information (PHI) has been protected since the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) became law in 1996. The security requirements are covered in the Privacy Rule that was finalized in 2000 then modified in 2002 and the Security Rule that was finalized...