Patient Access and the Path to Compliance

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule generally requires HIPAA covered entities—health plans and most healthcare providers—to provide individuals, upon request, with access to protected health information (PHI) about them in one or more “designated record sets” maintained by or for the covered entity.^[1] This includes the right to inspect and/or obtain a copy and the right to direct the covered entity to transmit a copy to a designated person or entity of the individual’s choice. This right applies as long as the covered entity, or its business associate, maintains the information, regardless of the date the information was created, and whether the information is maintained in paper or electronic systems on-site, remotely, or is archived.