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August 15, 2002
Final HIPAA Rule Issued
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The federal government has issued the final regulations governing medical-privacy rights for patients under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
But according to the Associated Press, the regulations have privacy advocates worried, since they allow doctors and hospitals to share patient information with HMOs and insurance companies without a patient's permission. The records in such exchanges must be directly related to health services.
The rule, years in the making, was released Friday by the Bush administration. It offers the first comprehensive federal protections for health privacy and applies to nearly every patient, doctor, hospital, insurance plan and pharmacy.
The regulation takes effect in April 2003 for all but the smallest health plans, which will have an additional year to comply.
The final rule sets aside a Clinton administration proposal that would have required a patient's written consent before such information could be released.
Bush officials, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, said they struck the right balance between privacy concerns and the provision of timely medical care.
Still, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., responded by announcing he intends to introduce legislation to overturn the policy.
The AP explains that under the Clinton rule, health care providers would have had to get written permission to disclose patient information - even for routine matters such as treatment and payment.
Under President Bush's change, no such permission will be needed. Rather, doctors and other health care providers must notify patients of privacy policies and make a "good faith effort" to get written acknowledgment.
In announcing the rule, HHS said it requires the following:
* Patients must give specific authorization before entities covered by this regulation could use or disclose protected information in most non-routine circumstances - such as releasing information to an employer or for use in marketing activities. Doctors, health plans and other covered entities would be required to follow the rule's standards for the use and disclosure of personal health information.
* Covered entities generally will need to provide patients with written notice of their privacy practices and patients' privacy rights. The notice will contain information that could be useful to patients choosing a health plan, doctor or other provider. Patients would generally be asked to sign or otherwise acknowledge receipt of the privacy notice from direct treatment providers.
* Pharmacies, health plans and other covered entities must first obtain an individual's specific authorization before sending them marketing materials. At the same time, the rule permits doctors and other covered entities to communicate freely with patients about treatment options and other health-related information, including disease-management programs.
* Specifically, improvements to the final rule strengthen the marketing language to make clear that covered entities cannot use business associate agreements to circumvent the rule's marketing prohibition. The improvement explicitly prohibits pharmacies or other covered entities from selling personal medical information to a business that wants to market its products or services under a business associate agreement.
* Patients generally will be able to access their personal medical records and request changes to correct any errors. In addition, patients generally could request an accounting of non-routine uses and disclosures of their health information.
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