On September 9, 2005 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a second Bulletin addressing circumstances arising from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.  The Bulletin provides guidance regarding how the Privacy Rule may apply to the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) to those who are treating evacuees in shelters, particularly where business associates or their agents are involved in facilitating the provision of this information.  The Bulletin also describes OCR’s enforcement approach in light of the emergency circumstances necessitating these disclosures.  The Bulletin is readily accessible from the “What’s New” column on the OCR website, http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/, by clicking on “Hurricane Katrina Bulletin #2:  Compliance Guidance and Enforcement Statement.”

 

I have attached the bulletin.  You may want to keep this if you are at risk of any type of natural or man-made disaster.  This bulletin contains an excellent summary of use and disclosure of PHI in an emergency situation (from Hurricane Katrina Bulletin #1), a sample business associate contract addendum, and HHS OCR’s approach to enforcement of the Privacy Rule.

 

Regards,

Barbara McGowin

Executive Recruiter/Resource Consultant

(843) 824-8537

Barbara@...

Connecting Health Care Organizations with People,

Products and Services to Achieve HIPAA Compliance.