Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) news from FierceHealthcare
News
SPOTLIGHT: HHS tightens up HIPAA enforcement
Buckle your seat belts: HHS has issued an interim final rule, with request for comments, on rules that will tighten up HIPAA enforcement. Thanks to the enactment of the HITECH Act, HHS has more... Read more...
Hospitals will have more leeway thanks to H1N1 emergency declaration
HHS now will be able to give hospitals more leeway in how they handle any incoming surges incoming patients thanks to President Obama's declaration last week that the H1N1 swine flu is a national... Read more...
Senate Finance bill includes new HIPAA rules
While most people were focusing on the Finance reform bill's government expansion and the price tag of a public option, few may have noticed a small section of the 223-page measure that addresses... Read more...
Medical billers worried about ICD-10, HITECH Act
Want to know what's on medical billers' minds? Largely, they're in a stir over the implementation of ICD-10 5010 and compliance with the new HITECH Act, according to speakers at a national conference... Read more...
New HHS rule requires providers, health plans to notify consumers of privacy breaches
What used to be a state by state matter--in which a patchwork of laws offered some limited protection when their health data was breached--has now become a national standard. HHS has issued new... Read more...
Office of Civil Rights to enforce HIPAA regulations
In a move made to put a stop to duplication of rules enforcement, the Office of Civil Rights will take over regulation enforcement of the security rule for the Health Insurance Portability and... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Physician offices reluctant to share medical records
While in most cases, patients may have the absolute right to get their medical records from their doctors--at fees strictly limited by HIPAA--many practices seem reluctant to share them. This column... Read more...
WI nurses fired over cell photos of X-ray
A pair of nurses accused of taking a picture of patient X-rays have been fired, with one also charged with posting the pictures on a Facebook page. While the nurses apparently didn't violate... Read more...
HIPAA privacy rules not enough, IOM says
The current version of HIPAA privacy rules don't do enough to protect privacy, and at the same time hamper health research, concludes a new Institute of Medicine report. The report suggests that... Read more...
CA proposes medical record privacy rules
The California legislature is considering a new bill that imposes health data privacy protections above and beyond those already required by HIPAA, alarmed by a recent rash of medical record snooping... Read more...
