The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule: a practical guide for researchers.

Background: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, intended to address potential threats to patient privacy posed by the computerization and standardization of medical records, provides a new floor level of federal protection for health information in all 50 states. In most cases, compliance with the Privacy Rule was required as of April 2003. Yet considerable confusion and concern remain about the Privacy Rule and the specific changes it requires in the way healthcare providers, health plans, and others use, maintain, and disclose health information.