Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Resources
scoring guide icon Discussion and Participation Scoring Guide.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996 to protect patients from having their medical information given to various different organizations and individuals without permission. With the roll out of HIPAA, consequences have been established in relation to a heath care setting releasing information without permission. Answer the following in relation to HIPAA:

In addition to the explanation above:
Describe what HIPAA is?
Why it is important?
How does it impact patients, providers, employers, and so on?
Give a real-life example of what could occur if these guidelines are not followed in a hospital setting. Include what the consequences may be for violating HIPAA and the adverse affect that may occur to the person who was hurt by the violation.
You must use at least one research, other than the text, to complete this discussion. The resources can either be found in the Capella Library or on the Internet.

If using the Internet, search words, and a combination of search words such as HIPAA, health care violations, and health care cases help in completing this discussion.
Once you are done, refer to the Discussion Participation Scoring Guide to make sure you have met the requirements of this discussion.

Response Guidelines
Read the posts of your peers and respond to two posts. In your response consider the following:

HIPAA is a complex act; there are many facets of the act focused on securing information. In the explanation given by your peers of what HIPAA is what details did they not identify that you did?
Is your point of view of the importance of HIPAA similar to that of your peers? Explain.
Review your peers example. What questions, comments, or additional information do you have for your peers?