HIPAA Regulations: General Provisions: Definitions - Implementation Specification - § 160.103

As Contained in the HHS HIPAA Rules

Implementation specification means specific requirements or instructions for implementing a standard.

This definition was adopted in the Transactions Rule and is minimally revised here. We add the words “requirements or” before the word “instructions.” The word “instructions” is appropriate in the context of the implementation specifications adopted in the Transactions Rule, which are generally a series of instructions as to how to use particular electronic forms. However, that word is not apropos in the context of the rules below. In the rules below, the implementation specifications are specific requirements for how to comply with a given standard. The change to this definition thus ties in to this regulatory framework.