New HIPAA disclosure rules proposed

The Daily Record Newswire The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing new privacy rules governing protected health information accounting procedures under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The proposed rules would implement new provisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) that require HIPAA-covered entities to account for disclosures of protected health information when used to carry out treatment, payment and health care operations, if such disclosures are through an electronic health record. The proposed rule would give individuals the right, under both the HITECH Act and HIPAA, to receive a report indicating who has accessed electronic protected health information in a designated record set. The agency also proposed changes to the existing accounting requirements to improve workability and effectiveness under HIPAA. Comments on the rules, RIN 0991-AB62, which was published in the Federal Register earlier this month, are being accepted until Aug.1 at http://www.regulations.gov. For more on regulations under the HITECH Act, see the Lawyers USA article ''New HIPAA rules create lots of health care contract work.'' Published: Mon, Jun 27, 2011