The Administrative Simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA, Title II) requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health plans, and employers. It also addresses the security and privacy of health data. Adopting these standards will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation's health care system by encouraging the widespread use of electronic data interchange in health care. 

WRITE students will have had HIPAA training utilizing the HIPAA Compliance Modules at the University of Washington School of Medicine prior to arriving at their WRITE Site. As HIPAA training is site-specific, WRITE Sites will have the option of accepting the student’s prior training from the UWSOM or of having the student take the WRITE Site-specific training. (WRITE Co-Chair’s Office can provide sites with details regarding the student’s HIPAA training modules.)