Health Information Standards and Regulations
| Term/Topic | Description/ Purpose |
Is this a federal regulation, health data standard, or classification system (data terminology)? | What is the year of the most recent update? Include a link for the most current version. | What is the impact on nursing practice? |
| Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) |
HIPAA mandates the establishment of nationwide regulations to safeguard confidential patient health data from unauthorized disclosure without the patient’s explicit permission or awareness. | Federal legislation | Most recent update: 2024 Link: https://www.hipaaguide.net/hipaa-updates/ | Maintaining HIPAA compliance is of the utmost importance for nurses in their day-to-day work, owing to the sensitive nature of the data they manage. Nurses routinely access, disseminate, and document their patients’ treatment plans, medical records, and other pertinent health-related information. |
| Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) |
promotes the adoption of electronic health records by healthcare providers and enhances security and privacy measures for healthcare data. | Federal law | Most recent update: 2024 Link: https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-is-the-hitech-act/ | The HITECH Act alters the dynamics between healthcare practitioners, organizations, patients, and payors by emphasizing the adoption and use of health information technology. |
| 21st Century Cures Act (Cures Act) |
President Obama signed the Act on December 13, 2016, with the goals of addressing the opioid misuse problem, accelerating the development of drugs and medical devices, improving mental health service delivery, and encouraging and funding the advancement of research into the prevention and treatment of severe diseases. | Federal law | Most recent update: 2023 Link: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/01/2023-24068/21st-century-cures-act-establishment-of-disincentives-for-health-care-providers-that-have-committed | While clinicians are now obligated to share records with patients as a result of the Final Rule mandate, the Cures Act remains a health policy that aims to grant patients unrestricted, cost-free digital access to all of their medical records. |
| Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) |
The TEFCA aims to establish principles and minimum standards for the safe and suitable sharing of electronic medical records between networks. This will enhance access to data and better support the existing use cases enabled by HINs and health IT developers. | health data standard | Most recent update: 2023 Link: https://www.healthit.gov/topic/interoperability/policy/trusted-exchange-framework-and-common-agreement-tefca | By increasing the scope of exchanges and centralizing all patient records, TEFCA adoption facilitated better care coordination, facilitated easier patient access to their medical records, and ultimately led to better health outcomes. |
| Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 | The primary goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 are to increase access to affordable health insurance, extend Medicaid coverage to all adults with income below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), and promote the implementation of innovative healthcare delivery methods aimed at reducing overall healthcare costs. | Federal law | Most recent update: 2017 Link: https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/house-bill/3590 | Nurses are required under the ACA to actively engage in innovation, transformational leadership, along with care coordination. They play a crucial role in achieving cost reduction, improving quality, and enhancing patient access in the future. |
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