Privacy and Security Toolkit

This Privacy and Security Toolkit is meant to be a companion document that implements the principles in The Nationwide Privacy and Security Framework for Electronic Exchange of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy and Security Framework). This toolkit is composed of a series of fact sheets that clarify how the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule applies to, and can be used to help structure the privacy policies behind, electronic health information exchange in a networked environment. The toolkit illustrates how HIPAA covered entities may utilize the Privacy Rule’s established baseline of privacy protections and individual rights with respect to individually identifiable health information to elicit greater consumer confidence, trust, and participation, in electronic health information exchange. The toolkit also answers some of the most common and fundamental questions with respect to participating in an electronically networked environment and disclosing PHI through separate legal entities called Health Information Organizations (HIOs).