HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It is a United States federal law enacted to establish standards for protecting sensitive patient health information, ensuring privacy, security, and the portability of health insurance coverage when individuals change jobs or experience life events
. The act addresses the management and transfer of healthcare information, reduces identity theft and fraud, and standardizes record-keeping and security across states. It includes key rules such as the Privacy Rule, Security Rule, Transactions Rule, Identifiers Rule, and Enforcement Rule, which collectively govern how protected health information (PHI) is handled by healthcare providers, health plans, and their business associates
. In summary, HIPAA is designed to protect patient privacy, secure healthcare data, and ensure that health insurance coverage is portable between employers
