In 1996, President Clinton signed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It’s described as the most far-reaching changes in health care policy since Medicare. It’s original purpose was to insure availability of health insurance for people who change/lose their jobs. HIPAA requires significant changes by health plans. Many of these changes are related to HIPAA's Privacy Standards, which are effective April 14, 2003.
Washtenaw County's Public Health Department (WCPHD) has involved all of it's employees in ongoing HIPAA training sessions to ensure that all of our staff are well educated about HIPAA and to ensure that HIPAA Privacy Standards are maintained at all times.
Q. What are the HIPAA Privacy Standards?
Q.
How has the public health department changed processes to comply with
HIPAA?
Q. What is considered protected health information under HIPAA?
Q.
How will the public health department handle inquiries that include
protected health information?
Q. How have the HIPAA Privacy Standards been communicated to the public health department's clients?
Click here to downlaod a copy of the WCPHD "Notice of Privacy Practices" (PDF format)
Q. When will a WCPHD Authorization Form be required?You may also request a copy from the department by calling 734-544-6700
If you would like more information regarding HIPAA, please
click on the following Web site: www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/
This page was updated on 5/1/07