This inaugural issue of LegalNotes examines recent guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which add greater clarity regarding the extent to which the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule1 permits health care providers to share information with patients and people involved in their care.

LegalNotes is an online bimonthly Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) publication that provides readers with summaries of developments in the law that may be of interest to AF4Q alliances and their partners.