Which law promotes the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology, particularly electronic health records, and strengthens privacy and security rules for electronic health data?

• A. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• B. Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH)
• C. Medical Privacy and Security Act
• D. Digital Health Records Act

Answer: (B)

This question tests how policy drives the adoption of health information technology and the protection of electronic health data. The law that does both—promoting widespread use of electronic health records through incentives and establishing meaningful use criteria, while also strengthening privacy and security provisions for electronic health information—is the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. It was created to accelerate the adoption of EHRs and to formalize meaningful use, guiding how providers demonstrate the effective use of digital records. At the same time, it expanded and reinforced HIPAA’s privacy and security rules—tightening breach notifications and enforcement—so that electronic data have stronger protections as their use expands. HIPAA, by itself, set baseline privacy and security standards but didn’t include the incentives or the specific meaningful use framework. The other options aren’t recognized federal laws that target EHR adoption or the expanded privacy/security framework in this integrated way.