HIPAA & FERPA

Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge. The HIPAA Privacy regulations require health care providers and organizations, as well as their business associates, to develop and follow procedures that ensure the confidentiality and security of protected health information (PHI) when it is transferred, received, handled, or shared. This applies to all forms of PHI, including paper, oral, and electronic, etc. Furthermore, only the minimum health information necessary to conduct business is to be used or shared.

For more information on how HIPAA relates to Clinical Social Work please visit the link from The Clinical Social Work Association.

Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA applies to any public or private elementary, secondary, or post-secondary school and any state or local education agency that receives funds under an applicable program of the US Department of Education. The Act serves two primary purposes. It gives parents or eligible students more control over their educational records, and it prohibits educational institutions from disclosing “personally identifiable information in education records” without the written consent of an eligible student, or if the student is a minor, the student’s parents.

For more information on FERPA please visit the link from US Department of Education.

Below are two additional links related to HIPAA and FERPA:

HIPAA and FERPA as it related to student health data

HIPAA and FERPA as it relates to student health records