What is the primary purpose of HIPAA?

The primary purpose of HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is to safeguard individual health information. This legislation was established to protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and to give patients more control over their personal health data. By establishing national standards for the protection of health information, HIPAA ensures that sensitive patient information is not disclosed without consent and is protected from misuse.

Although promoting physical health in the workplace, ensuring healthcare affordability, and regulating employee insurance plans are important aspects of healthcare systems, they are not the primary focus of HIPAA. The essence of HIPAA lies in its emphasis on privacy and security, which is particularly pertinent in the era of electronic health records and information sharing.