ALERT: Major HIPAA Changes Enacted By Congress
On February 16, 2009, President Obama is expected to sign into law the $787 billion stimulus bill. Included in the bill are strong new privacy and security measures that will generate significant changes to the current HIPAA regulations. These changes not only affect covered entities under HIPAA, but they directly affect many organizations that perform services on their behalf.
Among other HIPAA provisions in the new law, those entities known as "business associates," which provide services to covered entities involving protected health information, would be directly covered by certain aspects of HIPAA. Currently, business associates (which include entities such as billing companies, consulting firms, etc.) are obligated to follow HIPAA only through contracts called "business associate agreements" with covered entities. In addition, the new HIPAA amendments will require covered entities to report certain unauthorized disclosures of protected health information to affected patients whose PHI is compromised.
It also places new restrictions on certain disclosures, increases penalties for violations of the Privacy and Security Rules, and requires more accounting of disclosures from electronic health records.
Click here for more information on how this will affect your organization.
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