HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and other personal health information. The Rule requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information, and sets limits and conditions on the uses and disclosures of this information. A Privacy Rule Authorization is an individual’s signed permission to allow certain use and disclosure of the individual’s protected health information (PHI). The Rule specifies core elements and required statements that must be included in an Authorization.
According to Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 164.508, a HIPAA Authorization is not valid unless it contains all of the required elements and statements. As part of these requirements, a signature and date must be included to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule.