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From: OCR HIPAA
Privacy Rule information distribution [mailto:OCR-PRIVACY-LIST@...] On Behalf Of OS OCR PrivacyList, OCR
(HHS/OS)
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 4:52
PM
To: OCR-PRIVACY-LIST@...
Subject: HHS Launches New Web site
on HIPAA Privacy Compliance and Enforcement
Announcement
Friday, April 20, 2007
HHS Launches New Web site on HIPAA
Privacy Compliance and Enforcement
To coincide with the fourth anniversary of the enforcement of the HIPAA
Privacy Rule, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today
the launch of an enhanced Web site that will make it easier for consumers,
health care providers and others to get information about how the Department
enforces health information privacy rights and standards. In launching the
website, Winston Wilkinson, the Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights,
noted: "HHS has obtained significant change in the privacy practices of
covered entities through its enforcement program. Corrective actions obtained
by HHS from these entities have resulted in change that is systemic and affects
all the individuals they serve."
The Health Information Privacy Web site provides comprehensive
information about the Privacy Rule, which creates important federal rights and
requirements to protect the privacy of personal health information. The
enhanced Web site, http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/enforcement
provides information for consumers, health care providers, health plans and
others in the health care industry about HHS’s compliance and enforcement
efforts. The new information describes HHS activities in enforcing the Privacy
Rule, the results of those enforcement activities, and statistics showing which
types of complaints are received most frequently and the types of entities most
often required to take corrective as a result of consumer complaints. The other
information on the Web site covers consumers’ rights to access their
health information and significantly control how their personal health
information is used and disclosed, as well as guidance about how to submit
complaints about possible violations of the law and extensive guidance for
entities who must comply with the rule.
HHS issued the patient privacy protections pursuant to the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The first and
only comprehensive federal privacy standards to protect patients' medical
records and other health information provided to health plans, doctors,
hospitals and other health care providers took effect on April 14, 2003.
Developed by HHS, these standards provide patients with access to their medical
records and more control over how their personal health information is used and
disclosed. The regulation covers health plans, health care clearinghouses, and
those health care providers who conduct certain financial and administrative
transactions (e.g., enrollment, billing and eligibility verification)
electronically. HHS has conducted extensive outreach and provided guidance and
technical assistance to providers and businesses to help them to implement the
new privacy protections. These materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
Delegation of Subpoena
Authority
On April
16, 2007, OCR announced that the
Secretary of Health and Human Services has delegated to the Director of OCR the
authority to issue subpoenas in investigations of alleged violations of the
HIPAA Privacy Rule and of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of
2005.
The link
to the Federal Register notice is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa.
This email is being sent to you from the OCR-Privacy-list listserv, operated by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the US Department of Health and Human Services.
This is an announce-only list, a resource to distribute information about the HIPAA Privacy Rule. For additional information on a wide range of topics about the the Privacy Rule, please visit the OCR Privacy website at www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/. You can also call the OCR Privacy toll-free phone line at (866) 627-7748. Information about OCR's civil rights authorities and responsibilities can be found on the OCR home page at www.hhs.gov/ocr
If you believe that a person or organization covered by the Privacy Rule (a "covered entity") violated your health information privacy rights or otherwise violated the Privacy Rule, you may file a complaint with OCR. For additional information about how to file a complaint, see the Fact Sheet "How to File a Health Information Privacy Complaint," available at http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.htm .
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