Health information privacy protection: crisis or common sense?

Concerns about the protection of personally identifiable information are not unique to the health care industry; however, consumers view their medical records as more "private" than other information, such as financial data, because involuntary disclosure can affect jobs or health insurance status. This paper briefly touches upon new sweeping federal privacy standards mandated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The article outlines who and what is covered under the new rules, considers how practitioners can approach compliance with common sense, addresses concerns related to risk management, discusses consumer health privacy issues, and notes the difficulty of evaluating these rules and regulations. The article also looks at some unique privacy issues facing telemedicine and telehealth practitioners.