Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Office of General Counsel

Location:

112 Hullihen Hall
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716-0101

Hours:

8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Contact Information:

Phone: 302-831-7366
Fax: 302-831-3055
Email: generalcounsel@udel.edu

For Mailing Purposes:

162 The Green
Room 112
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716-0101

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economical and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”) (together referred to as “HIPAA”) applies to “Protected Health Information.” Protected Health Information includes individually identifiable health information about people that alone, or combined with other publicly available information, can be used to identify the subjects of the data. Protected Health Information can be oral, written, or electronic.

Some areas of the University provide health care and are subject to HIPAA, and other departments provide administrative assistance for them or for other third parties, such as government agencies, that are subject to HIPAA. In both cases, those components of the University that are subject to HIPAA must safeguard the privacy and security of the Protected Health Information and notify individuals if the privacy or security of the Protected Health Information is breached.

HIPAA requires the University to safeguard the privacy of Protected Health Information and the security of that information. The Office of the General Counsel has primary responsibility for overseeing the University’s HIPAA privacy compliance and for complying with the University’s HIPAA Policy. Information Technology has primary responsibility for overseeing the security of the Personal Health Information, including assisting various areas within the University with conducting risk assessments of the data. The Office of General Counsel and Information Technology work closely together to coordinate compliance activities.