HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a set of rules to be followed by health plans, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.
HIPAA took effect on April 14, 2003. Key provisions include:
 

• Patients must be able to access their record and correct errors.

• Patients must be informed of how their personal information will be used.

• Patient information can only be shared if needed to treat the patient. In particular, it cannot be used for marketing purposes without their explicit consent.

• Patients can ask their health plans and providers to take reasonable steps to ensure that their communications with the patient are confidential. For instance, a patient can ask to be called on his work number, instead of home or cell phone number.

• Patients can file formal privacy-related complaints to the Office for Civil Rights.

• Health plans or providers must document their privacy procedures, but they have a lot of freedom on what to include in their privacy procedure.

• Health plans or providers must designate a privacy officer and train their employees.

• Health plans and providers must use standard formats for electronic data interchange, such as electronic claims submission EDI.