My spouse broke her hand in NC in Aug 2001. She was sent to an orthopedic doctor and a payment plan was worked out. We got behind on the payments and the account was sent to collections. We made the final payment to the doctors office in Jan 2002. We had not checked her credit report but found out they listed this account with a zero balance due. I would like to know if this is a hipaa violation, being that it is listed with a zero balance, even though it predates the hipaa law going into effect. I was told it was a violation even though it predates hippa because there is no practical business law of showing a zero balance due account on someones credit report.