Which act affects both healthcare and educational organizations by increasing some of the security measures to further protect healthcare information?

• A. Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
• B. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• C. Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
• D. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

Answer: (B)

HIPAA is the law that governs how health information is protected and what security measures must be in place. It requires entities that handle protected health information (PHI)—such as healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, and in certain situations educational organizations that maintain health records—to implement a range of safeguards. These include administrative policies, access controls, authentication, encryption or equivalent protection for data in transit and at rest, audit controls to track who accesses PHI, and procedures for identifying and responding to security incidents. This focus on safeguarding health data across different types of organizations is why HIPAA stands out as the act that increases security measures specifically for healthcare information, even when schools or educational settings are involved because they may encounter PHI in clinical or health-service contexts.

The other acts address different areas: one broadens healthcare reform without centering on information security; another targets financial reporting and governance for organizations; and the last focuses on the privacy of financial information in financial institutions.