HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 

HIPAA Administrative Simplification

The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, Title II) require the County of Sacramento (including the Department of Health and Human Services) to:

• adopt policies, practices and procedures to protect health information
• adopt policies, practices and procedures to secure health information systems
• establish national standards for electronic health care transactions
• establish national identifiers for providers, health plans, and employers
• adopt national code sets

Adopting these standards will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's health care system by encouraging the widespread use of electronic data interchange in health care.