The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act and the practice of dentistry in the United States: system security.

This article reviews the issues related to the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) security rule that apply to dental practice. The security rule specifically addresses individually identifiable health information that is transmitted or maintained in electronic media. System security must be applied to the entire technical infrastructure for the practice environment as well as to the work culture on a daily basis and must be thought of as an enterprise asset. Security refers to all of the policies, procedures, tools, and techniques used to assure that privacy and confidentiality are adequately addressed in a healthcare system. HIPAA requires all covered entities that transmit or maintain electronic health information perform, and document, a risk assessment for security and develop a security plan to address major areas of concern. A self-assessment tool is provided in this article.