Our lawyers regularly counsel a wide range of healthcare clients - health plans, healthcare providers, business associates and employers that sponsor group health plans - on matters involving the confidentiality and security of health information. Since federal rules were first proposed in 1999, we have been following, interpreting and applying the Privacy and Security Standards promulgated under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). We also have considerable experience with state laws protecting the confidentiality of health information and prescription data and more recently, with the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which represents the most significant expansion of HIPAA since its inception.
