HIT alert: The HHS is proposing  new privacy guidelines designed to protect consumers’ (patients) health information when that health information is handled by third parties. The proposed rules come as part of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act — enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 under Obama. The ubiquitous HIPPA legislation signed into law in 1996 is essentially strengthened, and hopefully clarified, as finer points in patients’ health records in the past have been exploited and mismanaged under perverse interpretations of that law by third party entities — many of which are payers.

Among the expansion of HIPPA parameters expanded by these proposals by HHS:

• setting new limitations on the use and disclosure of protected health information for marketing and fundraising
• prohibiting the sale of protected health information without patient authorization
• expanding individuals’ rights to access their information and to restrict certain types of disclosures of protected health information to health plans

It only follows that if consumers have and expect access to their personal health information in whatever form desired, then they have to be encouraged to expect safety mechanisms are in place to protect the delivery of and accessibility to that information. These proposals are to go into effect later this year. | LINK to HHS’ privacy site | LINK to 60-day public comment site

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