A stronger medical privacy protection rule became effective on March 26. In January, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new rule to strengthen the privacy and security protections for health information as required by the so-called HITECH Act. The rule modifies protections established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).  [April 2013, 361 word article]