Which act mandates breach notification requirements?

The HITECH Act, or the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, specifically includes provisions that set forth breach notification requirements for healthcare organizations. This legislation was enacted to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology while also enhancing the protection of health information.

Under the HITECH Act, covered entities and business associates are required to notify individuals when their unsecured protected health information (PHI) is breached. The act outlines specific criteria for what constitutes a breach, the timing of notifications, the contents that must be included in the notifications, and the requirements for reporting breaches to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This framework was designed to provide individuals with a greater sense of security regarding their health information and to hold organizations accountable for safeguarding that information.

While HIPAA does cover aspects of privacy and security of health information, it was the HITECH Act that introduced the explicit requirement for breach notifications as a response to the growing concerns about data breaches in the healthcare sector. The other options, such as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act), deal with different domains (education and corporate governance, respectively) and do not pertain to health information breach