A federal law signed in August 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) calls for changes in health insurance, and in many health care transactions and administrative information systems and practices.

More specifically, one section of the law deals with three main issues: (1) federal standards for electronic data interchange among health care providers and health plans; (2) federal privacy standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of patient health information; and (3) federal security standards for protecting access to electronic and other health information.

Although some of our practices did change as a result of HIPAA, in many cases these regulations contained provisions that were already required by state law or were already a part of our professional practice.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was signed into law on February 17, 2009, to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology. Subtitle D of the HITECH Act addresses the privacy and security concerns associated with the electronic transmission of health information, in part, through several provisions that strengthen the civil and criminal enforcement of the HIPAA rules.