Physicians: Are You Compliant with Recent HIPAA Changes?
[Posted 3/08/10]

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was enacted last year and took full effect last month, has added additional privacy and security safeguards to existing HIPAA regulations. The safeguards include new rules regarding, among other things, notifying patients of data breaches, marketing restrictions, the sale and disclosure of protected health information, and the use of electronic health records.

The HITECH Act has also dramatically increased the obligations of business associates, making them directly accountable under HIPAA. As a result, physicians must ensure that they have updated agreements with all of their business associates, including entities such as Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) that were not considered business associates under the prior regulations. Under the new rules, business associates are also subject to the same civil and criminal penalties that physicians, hospitals, and other HIPAA-covered entities face for violations. Previously, business associates that failed to protect patient information were liable to the covered entities via their service contracts, but they did not face governmental penalties.

To help physicians understand their responsibilities under HIPAA and the HITECH Act, CMA has updated On-Call to include the most up-to-date information. On-Call, CMA’s online library of medical, legal, and regulatory information for physicians, contains all of the information available in CMA’s seven-volume California Physician’s Legal Handbook (CPLH) and more. The newly updated On-Call documents are #1600, “HIPAA Overview & Enforcement,” #1602, “Business Associate Agreements,” #1603, “HIPAA ACT SMART: Introduction to the HIPAA Privacy Rules,” #1607, “HIPAA Security Rule,” #1132, “Electronic Medical Records,” and #1144 “Security Breach of Health Information.” All of these documents can be found under the heading “Medical Records: HIPAA.”

CMA On-Call is available free to members at the members-only website. Nonmembers can purchase On-Call documents for $2/page in the CMA bookstore. The 2010 edition of California Physician’s Legal Handbook can also be purchased in the bookstore.

CMA will also be hosting a webinar, “HIPAA Overview and Compliance – How to Be Compliant with Recent Changes,” on Thursday, March 18, at 12:15 p.m. This webinar will give a brief overview of the HIPAA privacy and security rules, highlight the recent changes, and provide resources to help physicians understand and comply with the new HIPAA regulations. Registration is free, but space is limited, so reserve your spot today.

Contact: Samantha Pellon, 916/551-2872 or spellon@cmanet.org.