The second edition of the Health Privacy Project's The State of Health Privacy is now available, and features updated summaries of state health privacy statutes. All state summaries are available online -- except for Texas, which will be updated soon.

You can use the report to:

• Learn generally about the kinds of protections offered in state statutes, and where there are gaps.
• Obtain a summary of your state's health privacy statutes.
• Compare protections between states.

The summaries can be used to compare state law with the new privacy protections mandated under HIPAA, effective April 14, 2003.

State summaries can be viewed individually and downloaded.

Please note that the survey is not exhaustive. The state summaries speak most directly to the use and disclosure of information gathered and shared in the course of providing and paying for health care. Finally, the survey is specifically and exclusively a survey of statutes, not regulations or case law.

DISCLAIMER -- The State of Health Privacy is intended as a general overview of statutory health privacy protections under state law. The authors have attempted to assure that the information presented in this survey is accurate as of the date of publication. However, this is a rapidly changing field of law, and the summary should not be used as a substitute for legal or other expert advice. The authors, Georgetown University, and the Institute for Health Care Research and Policy specifically disclaim any personal liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and the application, either directly or indirectly, of any information presented herein.