HIPAA Privacy & Security Program

Program activities include:

• Overseeing compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which detail the Rules' protection of individually identifiable health information, rights granted to individuals and electronic medical records.

• Ensuring confidentiality, protection of client information with health district policies and procedures

• Working closely with HR and Finance to ensure HIPAA/confidentiality accounted for in agreements and employee handbook.

• Staff training

• Compliance audits

• Reviewing client or staff complaints, breaches specific to HIPAA/confidentiality

The program is guided by state law and funded with health district indirect funds, which are part of a program's expenses that go toward shared administrative services. Program staff work with, and are guided by, outside agencies like the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.