Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology February 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The HIPAA Privacy Rule gives individuals a fundamental right to be informed of the privacy practices of health plans and health care providers, as well as to be informed of their privacy rights with respect to their personal health information. Health plans and covered health care providers are required to develop and distribute a notice that provides a clear, user friendly explanation of these rights and practices.\1\ In practice, however, many patients have found that these notices can be difficult to read and poorly comprehended.\2\