The Office of Compliance provides guidance and oversight to internal County of Sacramento departments for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

 

HIPAA is an abbreviation for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This Federal law was passed in 1996. As Congress has published final "Rules" to carry out the intent of the Act, deadlines for compliance have arrived. HIPAA is bringing sweeping changes to healthcare nationwide.

 

The County of Sacramento has designated itself as a "hybrid entity." This means some programs within departments are "covered" by the HIPAA Rules, while others are not, Master List of Covered Components. HIPAA requires (mandates) that every healthcare organization, whether completely covered by the Rules, or partly covered (hybrid), must monitor compliance, and have ongoing management of policies and procedures.

 

To ensure consistent, countywide compliance, the County of Sacramento has a HIPAA Privacy Officer as well as a HIPAA Security Officer. The County's Office of Compliance is required to document and report on its compliance efforts.

 

The Office is responsible for responding to and resolving HIPAA-related complaints for internal County of Sacramento programs, whether such complaints are made by clients or employees. The Office of Compliance maintains a toll free number for these inquiries about internal County of Sacramento programs: 1-866-234-6883 / TTY 1-877-835-2929