Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires the Secretary of HHS to adopt standards for financial and administrative transactions, and data elements for those transactions, to enable health information to be exchanged electronically. By ensuring consistency throughout the industry, these national standards make it easier for health plans, health care clearinghouses, physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers to process claims and other transactions electronically.