HIPAA is a very important health care law that all health care providers are required to comply with and is designed to simplify administrative aspects of health care. Established in 1996 HIPAA is used to protect and secure the privacy of patients’ health care information and health insurance portability. It also standardizes electronic data transactions(Austin, Wetle, & Wetle, 2012). Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a federally enacted law, although if the state has stricter guidelines healthcare providers must fallow the state’s law.For example HIPAA requires the health care provider to keep documents for 6 years after the last date of service, and the state requires health care providers to keep documents for 10 years after the last date of service, than the health care provider must fallow the states guidelines for these types of things. There are many key facts that a health care employee should know about the HIPAA law.
