HIPAA and Paper Shredders

The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act of 1996 also known as the HIPPA Act has been a major factor in the proliferation of office shredders and the mobile paper shredder market.  While part of the act deals with the ability of individuals to set up medical savings accounts and to be able to transfer their insurance from one employer to the next, a large part of the act concerns the combat of identity theft and fraud by the establishment of accountability with regard to health care information.  The importance of handling consumer information is highlighted by section 1177, which allows for penalties of up to $ 250,000 and imprisonment of up to 10 years for the intentional transfer or sale of individually identifiable health information.

The HIPAA Act indirectly promotes the use of use of paper shredders by stating that anyone who maintains or transmits health information against any reasonably anticipated "threats or hazards to the security of information" and "unauthorized uses or disclosures or information".  It is this language in the HIPPA Act that has brought about the increased focus on the proper disposal of personal information, which has necessitated, for good reason, the sales of paper shredders in the medical industry.