Knowledge Center

By: Jay Eisenstock, WEDI Board Chair

In 2003, the health care industry scrambled to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. This rule is composed of regulations for the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information in healthcare treatment, payment and operations by covered entities. The key point is these regulations apply to covered entities: doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, health plans, and select others who support them. When the regulations were drafted in 1996, clinical records were mostly paper based and conveyed to interested parties by phone or fax. The multitude of devices and applications in use today from fitness trackers to weight management programs could not have been anticipated. As a result, few of these are covered under the existing HIPAA Privacy regulations.

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