Federal Regulations
HIPAA Privacy Rule
The HIPAA Privacy Standards are intended to protect the privacy of all individually identifiable health information created or held by covered entities, regardless of whether it is or ever has been in electronic form. This includes paper records and oral communications. Covered entities (health plans, providers, clearinghouses) must maintain documentation of their policies and procedures for complying with the standards, and must include a statement of who has access to protected health information, how it is used within the covered entity, and when it would or would not be disclosed to other entities. The privacy standards were published December 28, 2000 and the compliance date for IHS was April 14, 2003. The IHS developed and implemented the required HIPAA Privacy Standards policies, forms and training prior to the compliance date.
Privacy Act System of Records
The purpose of this web site is to assist IHS employees with their Privacy Act duties, responsibilities and obligations. It is designed to serve as a basic resource for Privacy Act information, guidelines and procedures. Within IHS, patient medical records constitute the majority of agency Privacy Act protected records.
Freedom of Information Act
The Indian Health Service (IHS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) web page provides basic information about the FOIA program and how it works. We hope you will find this site informative and that it will give you a better understanding of IHS' public information programs.
Federal Medical Care Recovery Act (FMCRA)
This circular establishes a uniform Indian Health Service (IHS) policy for identifying and reporting third-party tortfeasor (liability) claims to the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and for collecting reimbursements owed to the IHS under the Federal Medical Care Recovery Act (FMCRA). This circular also establishes specific reporting requirements and defines the authorities for the recovery of funds in all third-party tortfeasor claims. This policy is consistent with Public Law (P.L.) 87-693, 42 United States Code (U.S.C) §2651-2653, 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 43.1- 43.4, and 32 CFR 199.1-199.16.
