HIPAA and your health information
Uroanswers is not covered by HIPAA. Here is what that means for what you post, and what protects your health information here instead.
Updated: 2 October 2026
People often ask whether HIPAA protects what they share on Uroanswers. It doesn't, and this page explains why, what that means for you, and what protects your information here instead.
Is Uroanswers covered by HIPAA?
No. HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, applies to three kinds of organization: healthcare providers that handle billing or insurance claims electronically, such as doctors, clinics and hospitals; health plans; and healthcare clearinghouses. It also applies to the businesses that work for them. What decides it is what an organization does, not what it writes about.
Uroanswers publishes health information and runs a forum. It doesn't treat patients, bill insurers or receive medical records from your doctor, so HIPAA doesn't apply to it. The same is true of most health websites, forums and apps that people use directly.
So what does HIPAA protect?
HIPAA protects health information held by your doctor, your hospital, your health plan and the companies that work for them. Those protections stay with your medical records. They don't follow information that you choose to post somewhere yourself.
What does this mean for what I post?
The forum is public. Anyone can read a post, and search engines and other services can index it. Before you post:
- Use a pseudonym that isn't your real name, email address or social media handle.
- Leave out details that could identify you together: your town, workplace, exact age, hospital, surgeon's name with dates, or unusual personal circumstances.
- Don't paste in medical records, test reports or letters. Describe what they say instead, without names, dates of birth or reference numbers.
- Don't share anyone else's health information, including a partner's or a relative's, in a way that could identify them.
If you have posted something you regret, you can edit it for a short time, and you can ask us to remove posts at any time. See closing your account and removing your posts in the privacy policy.
If HIPAA doesn't apply, what protects my information here?
- Our own commitments. Our privacy policy sets out what we collect, how long we keep it and who handles it. We don't sell personal information, and we never give the content of posts to advertisers.
- US state health data laws. Washington, Nevada and Connecticut have laws that protect consumer health data held by organizations HIPAA doesn't cover. Our consumer health data privacy policy explains your rights under them.
- Federal consumer protection law. The Federal Trade Commission can act against organizations that mislead people about how they handle personal information, including health information.
- European and UK data protection law. If you are in the EU or UK, the GDPR treats health information as a special category with extra protection. See our GDPR page.
Will Uroanswers ever ask for my medical records?
No. We never ask for medical records, test results or insurance details, and you never need to provide them to use the site.
Will you share my health information with my doctor, insurer or employer?
No. We don't share what you post, or anything about your account, with doctors, insurers or employers. The only exceptions are the limited situations in our privacy policy, such as a valid court order.
What about clinicians who post on the forum?
Verified clinicians on the forum give general information, not care. Clinicians are bound by their own professional duties and, where it applies to them, by HIPAA. They must not post information that could identify a patient. If we find, or are told about, a post that appears to reveal another person's health information, we remove it, whoever posted it.
Does Uroanswers have a HIPAA certification?
No. There is no official government HIPAA certification for any organization, and the US Department of Health and Human Services does not recognize private "HIPAA certified" badges. We would rather tell you plainly that HIPAA doesn't apply here, and explain what does.
Questions
Email contact@uroanswers.org.