Stay One Step Ahead Of Hipaa Compliance
By Adnan Olia, Chief Operating Officer, Intradyn
HIPAA compliance is a challenge — ask anyone in the health care industry and they’ll likely tell you the
same. Health-related organizations at every level, from small private practices to hospitals, struggle to
stay within the scope of HIPAA compliance, in large part due to the fact that HIPAA is so broad.
For a bit of context, let’s take a look at how HIPAA is defined. Passed in 1996, the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (more commonly known as HIPAA) “establishes, for the first time, a set
of national standards for the protection of certain health information [...] The Privacy Rule standards
address the use and disclosure of individuals’ health information — called ‘protected health information’
by organizations subject to the Privacy Rule — called ‘covered entities,’ as well as standards for
individuals’ privacy rights to understand and control how their health information is used.” The U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) defines Protected Health Information (PHI) as “any
individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business
associates.”