LEGISLATIVE, LEGAL AND POLICY ISSUES IN TELEMEDICINE & TELEHEALTH
Privacy and HIPAA Issue Summary
HIPAA's Privacy Rule Summarized: What Does It Mean For Telemedicine?
- Summary
- Full Article in PDF
- Resources
Summary
In 1996, Congress sought to streamline electronic medical record systems while protecting patients, improving health care efficiency, and reducing fraud and abuse. Passing Congress with bipartisan support, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, Public Law 104-191) became the legislative vehicle to address those issues. HIPAA is divided into seven standards, collectively referred to as Administrative Simplification. These regulations deal mainly with two issues: 1) reducing the administrative overhead of health care entities; and 2) protecting individually identifiable health information in an increasingly electronic world. Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information is the second final rule to be promulgated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HHS's final privacy rule is a lengthy document, totaling 369 pages of federal regulations, rules and definitions. (Readers interested in reviewing the entire privacy rule should see the 'Resources' section below.) Some of the highlights of this rule are provided in this regulatory issue summary, but it should be evident that this is only a synopsis and not intended to be comprehensive or inclusive of all the detailed provisions. Furthermore, this summary in no way is meant to serve as a legal opinion or binding interpretation of law, but is designed to educate readers on a complex topic.
The privacy rule has been applied very broadly to entities that transmit certain information in the course of various health care operations or financial/administrative transactions. Chances are that if an organization contacts patients and is involved in the transmission of their health information, this rule will impact its operations in some way. Many of the basic and critical concepts are described as they relate to the practice of telemedicine and telehealth. In addition, this summary includes some of the first steps health care entities will want to take as they approach the compliance dates.
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Resources
- HHS's Administrative Simplification Page
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Health Privacy Project, Georgetown University
- Arent Fox
- Joint Healthcare Information Technology Alliance
- Electronic Privacy Information Center
- Siemens HIPAA Central
- Health Data Management HIPAA Resource Guide
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Page last updated on Tuesday, May 27, 2003
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