First-principles HIPAA — what the law actually requires, who's covered, what 'PHI' means, and the foundational concepts every practice operates on.
6 articles
HIPAA Fundamentals is the conceptual baseline. The articles below cover what HIPAA is (the Privacy Rule, Security Rule, Breach Notification Rule, and Enforcement Rule, all under the broader 1996 statute), who it applies to (covered entities, business associates, and the increasingly important hybrid-entity question), and the core terms that drive every downstream compliance decision (ePHI, minimum necessary, addressable vs required, business associate). Practices new to HIPAA should start here; experienced staff use these as reference for clarification.
Every vendor in the HIPAA market calls itself either software or a platform, often interchangeably, sometimes both. The terms feel synonymous from the buyer's side but they describe fundamentally different things — and conflating them is the most expensive mistake an independent practice can make in a 5-year buying decision.
HIPAA compliance software describes products that work in fundamentally different ways. Understanding the three categories — documentation platforms, guided compliance tools, and enforcement-based systems — is essential before choosing one.
PHI is not limited to medical records. It includes any individually identifiable health information — and the definition keeps expanding as technology evolves.
HIPAA compliance is hard enough without decoding the alphabet soup. This guide defines every acronym you will encounter and explains why each one matters to your practice.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a federal law that protects sensitive patient information. This guide explains how to get started with HIPAA compliance, the key components involved, and how you can make the process easier.
Electronic compliance does not have to be overwhelming. Start with five practical areas where most practices have gaps and fix them one at a time.
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