One of the most important elements of HIPAA is it’s privacy protection. Covered entities are responsible to keep patients information private. Covered entities include health plans, health care clearinghouses and health care providers. Some of the health information that is protected by HIPAA are health claims or health care encounter information, payments or the status of a payment, a patient’s eligibility for health care, and referrals or authorizations just to name a few. A covered entity must provide patients access to their own PHI (personal health information). There is also a minimum necessary rule which means that a covered entity must only give out the required amount of information requested that is needed. Meaning they shouldn’t
