Patient Privacy

The University of Michigan Health System has always been committed to protecting patients' medical information, even before the Federal government created laws for the use and protection of medical and health information by hospitals, clinics and other medical practices. The Federal laws and related regulations come from the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These are national rules hospitals and providers must follow to provide all patients in the United States with standard privacy protections.

One rule requires hospitals and providers to provide all patients with a Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP) to explain how patient medical information can be and is used. Go to the Protecting Your Privacy page to view and download a copy of the University of Michigan NPP. If you have questions about anything contained in this notice, please feel free to contact the Privacy Director using the contact provided in the final section our NPP.

As a health care provider, we need to share patient information with other hospitals and providers external to UMHS. This is important to make sure appropriate treatment and care is rendered to patients.  We take special precaution for sharing information with non-UM providers in a secure, protected way. See When and Why We Share Your Health Information for more information and to answer questions you might have.

We appreciate you placing your care and trust in us to protect your confidential information.

If you are an external provider, please visit our For Health Providers page.

If you are a member of the Media, please see our Patient Privacy and HIPAA page.