What does HIPAA stand for?

The correct answer is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This legislation, enacted in 1996, has two primary goals: to ensure that individuals can maintain their health insurance coverage when changing jobs, and to establish national standards for the protection of personal health information.

The term "portability" reflects the act's focus on maintaining health insurance coverage during transitions between employers, while "accountability" refers to establishing privacy and security provisions for health data, ensuring that individuals’ medical records remain confidential. HIPAA has played a significant role in safeguarding sensitive patient information within the healthcare system, mandating that healthcare providers and insurers implement various measures to protect patient data from unauthorized access.

This act is foundational in healthcare compliance and regulatory practice, as it outlines the rights patients have over their own health information and the responsibilities of healthcare entities in managing that information securely.