HHS Issues New Documents
on Privacy Standards
April 18, 2003 - The Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has issued several
new documents regarding the implementation of the medical
privacy standards mandated by the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (P.L.
104-191). OCR issued a new brief
summarizing the key elements of the privacy rule April 11.
The rule, which was published in final form on Dec. 20, 2000,
went into effect April 14 for all covered entities except
small health plans (those with annual receipts of less than
$5 million), which must comply by April 14, 2004.
OCR also announced a new fact sheet - How to File a Health
Information Privacy Complaint with the Office of Civil Rights
- along with a new Health Information Privacy Complaint Form.
OCR will accept written complaints regarding alleged Privacy
Rule violations that occurred on or after April 14, 2003.
HHS also published in the April 17 Federal Register [68 FR
18895] an
interim final rule establishing rules of procedure for
the imposition of civil money penalties on entities that violate
standards adopted under HIPAA's Administrative Simplification
provisions. HHS notes that, as required by the rule, "to
the extent practicable, OCR will seek the cooperation of covered
entities in obtaining compliance with the Privacy Rule, and
may provide technical assistance to help covered entities
voluntarily comply with the Rule…. OCR will seek to resolve
matters by informal means before issuing findings of non-compliance,
under its authority to investigate and resolve complaints,
and to engage in compliance reviews."
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Get Washington Highlights
in your Inbox!
| 
