A federal healthcare law aimed at protecting patients' privacy rights was implemented yesterday at health-related institutions nationwide.

The Health Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 requires that healthcare providers inform patients of their privacy rights.

Both Centre Community Hospital and University Health Services (UHS) have undergone a preparation period in response to the law's implementation.

The law was first passed by Congress in December of 2000, but it was not made mandatory until yesterday in order to allow hospitals, physicians and other institutions time to prepare their staffs for the changes, said Doris Guanowsky, associate director for ancillary services at UHS.

"Extra time was permitted before the bill was implemented to allow for training," Guanowsky said. It was a challenge to put in place all the paperwork associated with the new law, she added.

UHS had been taking precautionary measures even before this bill went into effect, said Ellen Nagy, marketing manager for UHS. "We understand students' concerns about issues dealing with something they wouldn't want their parents to know," she said.

The main work in preparing for the new rules and regulations associated with HIPAA dealt with training university staff and volunteers. "We have been very vigilant about protecting our patients' records," Nagy said. "The fundamental protection was already in place here at UHS."

Students will have to sign a form upon check-in that states that they are aware of the privacy practices at UHS, Nagy said. Other than the form, students should not be greatly affected, she said.

UHS is not the only university department that has to comply with the law. Because Penn State is a research institution that employs human research practices, the university's policies must align with those of the new law, Nagy said.

At Centre Community Hospital patients will have to sign new forms upon checking in, said Julie Prongay, director of health information management and corporate privacy officer at the hospital.

The patients will see very little change in the day-to-day operations of the hospital, she said.

The hospital has also taken precautions in dealing with electronic security in response to HIPAA, Prongay said. The main idea behind electronic protection stems from the notion that patients should know who can access their medical information, she said. Patients' medical files will be kept confidential, so that only the patient or someone with a notarized letter from the patient can retrieve that information, she added.

"Centre Community has always been very careful [with patient privacy]; I think it's a good requirement to protect patients," Prongay said.