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On December 10, 2020, as part of its Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The modifications seek to remove barriers that may hinder communications between providers and health plans to better coordinate care. The proposed changes also seek to give patients increased access to their protected health information (PHI) and make it easier for them to share information. We have provided a summary of those modifications that will help OCR achieve these initiatives.
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On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) published in the
Federal Register companion final rules that present significant changes to the regulatory framework of the federal physician self-referral law (commonly referred to as the “Stark Law”), the federal health care program’s Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) and the federal civil monetary penalties (“CMP”) law.[1] The final rules are the culmination of the agencies’ efforts in connection with the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, an HHS-led effort to remove potential regulatory barriers to care coordination and value-based care that are inherent in the historical framework of the AKS and Stark Law that kicked off with the publication of proposed rules by CMS and OIG in October 2019.
OVERVIEW
On December 10, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with proposed modifications to the Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy Rule) adopted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (collectively, HIPAA). The proposed modifications support individuals’ engagement in their care, remove barriers to coordinated care and reduce regulatory burdens in the health care industry under HHS’s Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care.
IN DEPTH
On December 10, 2020, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) with proposed modifications to the Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (Privacy Rule) adopted under the Health Ins
Individual Right of Access
The NPRM would make several changes to individuals’ Privacy Rule right to inspect and obtain copies of their protected health information (PHI) maintained in a designated record set. The proposed changes would:
Expand the methods that individuals may use when inspecting their health information to include the ability to take notes, videos and photographs.
Require covered entity health care providers to allow patients to review PHI upon request that is readily available at the point of care in conjunction with a health care appointment.
Reduce the time limit for covered entities to provide access from 30 to 15 calendar days.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is pushing ahead in its Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care with a new proposed rule, announced by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on December 10, to modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule. This proposed rule follows HHS’ 2018 Request for Information on Modifying HIPAA Rules to Improve Coordinated Care (RFI), which sought to identify regulatory impediments to value-based care presented by HIPAA, and comes on the heels of HHS’ recent changes to the rules implementing the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law.
With this proposed rule, HHS aims to “reduce burden on providers and support new ways for them to innovate and coordinate care on behalf of patients, while ensuring that [HHS] uphold[s] HIPAA’s promise of privacy and security,” according to HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan. It would achieve these objectives through a variety of updates to the Privacy Rule, which