Office for Civil Rights - HIPAA

Medical Privacy - National Standards to Protect the Privacy of Personal Health Information

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Background and General Information

The privacy provisions of the federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), apply to health information created or maintained by health care providers who engage in certain electronic transactions, health plans, and health care clearinghouses. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued the regulation,"Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information," applicable to entities covered by HIPAA. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is the Departmental component responsible for implementing and enforcing the privacy regulation. (See the Statement of Delegation of Authority to the Office for Civil Rights, as published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2000 - [HTML][Text - 2.1K] [PDF- 116K)

Proposed Privacy Rule (November 1999) and comments received

Final Rule Published in the Federal Register (65 FR 82462): December 28, 2000
Rule Effective Date: April 14, 2001
Rule Compliance Date: April 14, 2003 (April 14, 2004, for small health plans)

Covered entities (certain health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses) are not required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule until the compliance date. Covered entities may, of course, voluntarily protect patient health information before this date.

On August 14, 2002, the Final Modifications to the Privacy Rule were published in the Federal Register. www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/finalreg.html

On March 11, 2003, the Notice of Address for Submission of Requests for Preemption Exception Determinations was published in the Federal Register.
Federal Register Notice in [Txt - 9K] [PDF - 38K]

On March 20, 2003, the Notice of Addresses for Submission of HIPAA Health Information Privacy Complaints was published in the Federal Register.
Federal Register Notice in [Txt -8K] [PDF - 38K]

On April 17, 2003 - Interim final rule: Civil Money Penalties: Procedures for Investigations, Imposition of Penalties, and Hearings. [PDF - 86K] [DOC - 214K]

Click on the mailbox to submit a question regarding the Privacy Rule:

Last revised: May 16, 2006

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