The Impact of HIPAA and HITECH: New Standards for Confidentiality, Security, and Documentation for Marriage and Family Therapists

Abstract

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) of 2009 established criminal and civil penalties for violations of HIPAA regulations, and included funding for audits. HIPAA privacy protections include the systems that store, maintain, and transmit it. HIPAA will soon set the industry standard for privacy and documentation in marriage and family therapist's practice. This article presents a primer on HIPAA privacy and security rules for marriage and family therapists.