Which act is a follow-on legislation to HIPAA focusing on the use of encryption?

Which act is a follow-on legislation to HIPAA focusing on the use of encryption?

• A. SSL/TLS
• B. ECC
• C. HITECH
• D. SET

Answer: (C)

HIPAA established privacy and security protections for health information, but a later law was specifically aimed at strengthening those protections and accelerating electronic health record adoption by promoting stronger safeguards like encryption. That act is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, known as HITECH. Enacted in 2009, it expanded HIPAA's reach, heightened penalties, extended protections to business associates, and explicitly encouraged encryption as a means to protect PHI, along with breach notification requirements to improve transparency after security incidents. The other items are not laws: SSL/TLS is a data‑in‑transit security protocol, ECC is a cryptographic algorithm, and SET is a historic payment security protocol. So HITECH is the correct follow-on legislation focused on encryption.

HIPAA established privacy and security protections for health information, but a later law was specifically aimed at strengthening those protections and accelerating electronic health record adoption by promoting stronger safeguards like encryption. That act is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, known as HITECH. Enacted in 2009, it expanded HIPAA's reach, heightened penalties, extended protections to business associates, and explicitly encouraged encryption as a means to protect PHI, along with breach notification requirements to improve transparency after security incidents. The other items are not laws: SSL/TLS is a data‑in‑transit security protocol, ECC is a cryptographic algorithm, and SET is a historic payment security protocol. So HITECH is the correct follow-on legislation focused on encryption.