Correct. This guide uses the word “correct” to mean adding information to your medical record to make it more accurate or complete.

Handling Fee. A fee for the administrative time spent processing your request for your medical record.

Health care provider. In this guide, the term “health care provider” means health care practitioners and health care facilities providing health care in Illinois. The term includes doctors, dentists, podiatrists, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, medical offices, health care clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and others.

HIPAA Privacy Rule. A set of legal rules written by the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). These rules set national standards that give patients the right to see, copy, and amend their own health information. They also set standards protecting the privacy of health information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to health care providers (such as doctors and hospitals) and health plans (such as health insurers and Medicare). Other people (such as employers) generally do not have to follow the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

HIPAA. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This federal law directed the United States Department of Health and Human Services to write rules protecting the privacy of health information. The federal law leaves in place state laws that have privacy protections that are equal to or greater than the federal law.

Notice of Privacy Practices. A notice that health care providers must give their patients that explains the patients’ rights under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. This notice must also explain how a provider can use health information and share it with others. 

Personal representative. This guide uses the term “personal representative” to refer to someone who has the legal right to make health care decisions on behalf of another person. 

Right of Access. The right to see and get a copy of your medical record.

Right to Amend. The right to amend your health information by adding information to it. The right to amend does not mean a right to have information erased or removed.