What legislation ensures the confidentiality of medical files?

The legislation that ensures the confidentiality of medical files is HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA was enacted to provide privacy protections for individuals' health information and sets national standards for the handling of protected health information (PHI). It establishes rules about how healthcare providers, health plans, and clearinghouses can use and disclose a patient’s medical records and personal health information.

Under HIPAA, patients have rights regarding their health information, including the right to access their records, request corrections, and receive an accounting of disclosures. The act also requires covered entities to implement safeguards to protect sensitive patient information, ensuring that it remains confidential and secure from unauthorized access and breaches.

Other options relate to different areas of regulation; for example, FERPA pertains to the privacy of students’ educational records, SOX is focused on corporate financial accountability, and HITECH enhances the protection of health information under HIPAA but does not independently govern confidentiality of medical files.