HIPAA
Also called: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, protected health information, PHI
Definition
The United States federal law whose Privacy and Security Rules govern how covered health-care providers and their workforce use, share and protect identifiable health information. For most ABA providers billing insurance it applies directly, and it sits alongside state privacy law, school privacy law, and the ethics code's own confidentiality standards, which apply even where HIPAA does not.
In plain language
The US federal privacy law for health information. It controls who can see or share a client's records and what you must do to protect them. Other rules apply on top of it.
Example
A clinic encrypts session notes, limits who can open them, and trains staff not to discuss clients in public areas.
Not hipaa
A school's handling of education records, which is governed mainly by a different federal law. Privacy still applies; the statute differs.
See also
Written from
- hipaa-privacy-rule
Written from the HIPAA Privacy Rule as published by HHS. The law is public domain; this description is ours.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.