ABSTRACT

Interrelationship among Regulations, Policies, Standards, Procedures, and Guidelines There is sometimes a misconception that regulations, policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines are interchangeable or synonymous with one another. This could not be further from the truth. To understand their differences, these terms need to be fully defined as they relate to compliance. These terms will also be defined as it relates to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)/Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act subject matter.