Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Wild Wednesday: HIPPA vs HIPAA


Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act



Did you know that it is HIPAA and not HIPPA??

Wait- do you know what this is? It is that huge law that says medical people can't talk about other patients or divulge identifying information to anyone other than the patient (or durable power of attorney or guardian or parent, etc.) That is when doctors and nurses and practitioners get fined lots of money and can get sued if they accidentally or purposefully release identifying information.

So I knew about this law and how it was abbreviated back when I started nursing school. It was created in 1996 and I am sure I heard of it before then since my mom and my dad work in the medical field. I guess I really had to learn about it in 2002 when I was taking prerequisite courses for nursing school.

That doesn't mean I think it should be abbreviated this way. I think they should have thrown in the word PRIVACY in the title. Thus making it HIPPAA. Oh well, I guess they wouldn't have listened very much to a 12 year old when it was passed in 1996.

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