Learning Objectives

By completing this course the healthcare professional will be able to:

1. Understand HIPAA regulations
2. Understand who is covered (e.g., covered entities), understand mandated standards, including transaction standards, and unique identifiers
3. Understand the standards for privacy

History of HIPAA
The primacy of client privacy and confidentiality has long been a tenet of the social work profession. The nature of our work with clients and our sensitivity to the stigma that often accompanies mental illness and substance abuse issues guides our position. The U.S. Congress recognized the importance of privacy of medical records when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was enacted during the Clinton administration. HIPAA authorized Congress to establish uniform privacy standards for health information that is electronically transmitted. Under this law, Congress was required to pass comprehensive health privacy legislation by August 21, 1999. Congress failed to accomplish this task and thus, responsibility for issuing privacy regulations was transferred to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as mandated by HIPAA. In accordance, HHS issued proposed regulations on October 29, 1999 , and allowed for an extended comment period. More than 52,000 comments were received in response to these regulations, including extensive comments submitted by the National Association of Social Workers and individual social workers.