July 13, 2001

HHS Releases New Privacy Rule Guidance

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) July 6 issued a guidance document addressing certain provisions of the medical privacy regulation, which was published last December. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson described the guidance as "an opening step in helping physicians, health care providers and health plans understand their obligations to patients under the rule."

This guidance answers common questions about the implications of the rule for doctors, hospitals, other providers, health plans and health insurers, and health care clearinghouses. It also offers interpretation of certain provisions of the rule, but does not substantively modify the rule's requirements.

As permitted under the HIPAA statute, HHS promises to propose additional changes that are necessary to ensure that the rule is "workable" and does not adversely affect patients' access to quality health care. For example, Secretary Thompson has said he intends to propose modifications to ensure that a pharmacist can fill a phoned-in prescription for a new patient, even when the pharmacist does not first have the patient's signed consent on file.

The AAMC has urged HHS to make further modifications to the rule, and in particular to address provisions of the rule that will impede clinical trials and research with archived medical records.

Information: Jennifer Kulynych, AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research, 202-828-0484.