HIPAA

HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and was enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. 

HIPAA articulates a Privacy Rule Links to an external site. that "establishes the conditions under which protected health information may be used or disclosed by covered entities for research purposes. Research is defined in the Privacy Rule as, 'a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.' See 45 CFR 164.501." 

As oral historians attempting to understand the lived experience of COVID-19, it is possible that narrators will share personal health information in the interview. While individuals may share this information in their own oral histories, it is important that they understand that it is their right to keep this information confidential. It is also important to ask narrators not to share the confidential health information of family, friends, or neighbors. 

If a narrator shares confidential health information about another identifiable individual, it will be necessary to remove this portion of the interview from the recording and from the transcript before uploading it to the database--noting that a portion of the text has been redacted due to HIPAA regulations. 

If you are participating in a research project, as defined by Health and Human Services, it is important that you submit your work to an Institutional Review Board.