Access anxiety: HIPAA and historical research

Area of Science:

• Health Law
• Archival Science
• Medical History

Background:

• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) enacted comprehensive standards for protecting private health information in the U.S.
• The HIPAA Privacy Rule, effective April 14, 2003, specifically governs the use and disclosure of protected health information by covered entities.

Observation:

• The HIPAA Privacy Rule directly impacts medical archivists and the management of health care collections.
• This regulation introduces the first federal protection for the privacy of deceased individuals in perpetuity.
• Researchers seeking access to individually identifiable health information must now meet specific HIPAA requirements.

Findings:

• The Privacy Rule imposes new obligations on researchers accessing sensitive health records.
• Compliance with these regulations presents a potential administrative burden for historians.

Implications:

• Despite challenges, the HIPAA Privacy Rule may create new avenues for historical research by standardizing access to twentieth-century health documents.
• Well-prepared historians can leverage these regulations to access a broader range of de-identified or properly authorized health information for scholarly work.