Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act - "HIPAA"
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is federal legislation enforcing:
- the portability of health care coverage;
- the security and privacy of health information; and
- an accounting of how individual health care formation is handled an protected.
The law was created to
- Give individuals more control and access to their medical information
- Protect individually identifiable medical information (protected health information) from threats of loss or disclosure
- Simplify the administration of health insurance claims and lower costs
Regulations supporting HIPAA punish individuals or organizations that fail to keep patient information confidential and include monetary fines of up to $1.5 million.
The New Mexico Department of Health operates under these principles:
Confidentiality: Protected health information (PHI) is accessed only by authorized people and processes.
Integrity: Processes for the transfer and storage of all PHI are secure, ensuring that information is not altered, destroyed or used/disclosed inappropriately.
Availability: PHI can be accessed as needed by an authorized person.
Please see the DOH HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices (Spanish HIPAA Privacy Brochure)
Health and Human Services HIPAA Links
