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Your practice's waiting room acts as the doorway between the big outside world and the small, intimate examination rooms where physicians often reveal life-changing information. The waiting room therefore, can be a conduit for the escape of protected health information (PHI)-which means you must enforce security measures to protect your facility and the privacy of the patients you treat. Compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is as important in the waiting room as anywhere in your practice.