HIPAA is important because it establishes enforceable federal standards that limit how protected health information may be used and disclosed, require safeguards for electronic protected health information, give individuals defined rights over their health information, impose breach notification duties when unsecured protected health information is compromised, and provide a regulatory enforcement structure that applies to HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates.
The HIPAA Privacy Rule sets national standards for protecting individuals’ medical records and other individually identifiable health information and governs when protected health information may be used or disclosed for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, and when an authorization is required. The HIPAA Privacy Rule also requires regulated entities to provide required privacy notices, apply the HIPAA Minimum Necessary Rule to uses, disclosures, and requests when the standard applies, and implement policies and procedures that support compliant handling of protected health information in any form.
HIPAA also defines individual rights that affect how healthcare organizations manage records and communications. These rights include access to protected health information in a designated record set, the ability to request amendments, and the ability to request an accounting of disclosures in applicable circumstances. These requirements drive operational controls for identity verification, response timeliness, documentation, and secure delivery of records.
The HIPAA Security Rule establishes standards for protecting electronic protected health information created, received, used, or maintained by a covered entity and requires administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. This framework ties compliance to risk-based controls, including risk analysis and risk management actions, access controls, audit controls, integrity protections, and transmission security. The HIPAA Security Rule requirements apply across common healthcare systems and workflows, including electronic health records, patient portals, email and messaging systems, cloud hosting, backups, remote access, imaging systems, and mobile devices when they handle electronic protected health information.
The HIPAA Breach Notification Rule creates accountability when protected health information is impermissibly used or disclosed and the information is not secured as required. It establishes notification obligations to affected individuals and to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with additional media notification requirements in specified circumstances. Breach response procedures, incident reporting channels, investigation steps, and documentation practices are operational necessities because notification timeframes and required content are regulated.
HIPAA also matters because regulated entities rarely operate alone. Business associates and subcontractors frequently create, receive, maintain, or transmit protected health information on behalf of covered entities, which requires written Business Associate Agreements and vendor oversight aligned with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and HIPAA Security Rule. This affects procurement, contract management, access provisioning, system configuration, and incident coordination across organizations.
Enforcement gives these requirements practical effect. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights investigates complaints and reported breaches and can resolve matters through corrective action plans, monitoring, and civil monetary penalties. Compliance programs that maintain required documentation, train the workforce, apply sanctions under policy, and track risk management actions support defensible performance under regulatory review.