The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is proposing changes to Privacy Rule, pursuant to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available for public comment. The proposed rule would give people the right to get a report on who has electronically accessed their protected health information.
People can now request an access report that documents the person(s) who electronically accessed and reviewed their protected health information. Prior to this proposed rule Covered Entities subject to the requirements of HIPAA did not have to release this information directly to individuals.
“This proposed rule represents an important step in our continued efforts to promote accountability across the health care system, ensuring that providers properly safeguard private health information,” said OCR Director Georgina Verdugo. “We need to protect peoples’ rights so that they know how their health information has been used or disclosed.”
The comment period ends August 1, 2011, and the new proposed rule may be reviewed at: http://www.federalregister.gov/
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