http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/government-medicine/20090318hipaa-security-rules.html By Sheri Porter AAFA News Now 3/18/2009 The recently passed federal stimulus package includes changes to federal health information privacy and security provisions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, that will affect physician practices. According to health care policy experts, however, the extent of that impact remains to be seen. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health, or HITECH, Act, which is intended to promote widespread adoption of health IT, was incorporated into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, (Page 144; 407-page PDF; About PDFs) which was signed into law on Feb. 17. According to provisions in the legislation, physicians now will be required to track any disclosure of a patient's medical information. Previous regulations allowed physicians to disclose patient information for the purpose of treatment, payment or health care operations, but they were not required to track when that information was disclosed. However, the new legislation requires physicians who use an electronic health record, or EHR, to "have the ability to track every time (patient) information has been disclosed," said Robert Tennant, a senior policy advisor for the Colorado-based Medical Group Management Association, or MGMA. [...] _______________________________________________ Best Selling Security Books and More! http://www.shopinfosecnews.org/Received on Fri Mar 20 2009 - 01:15:40 PDT
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