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The
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Friday, August 9,
2002, published the final medical privacy rule under the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
"The rule helps put patients in the driver's seat
when it comes to their own medical information," said
American Hospital Association (AHA) President Dick Davidson.
Mandatory patient written consent requirements for
patient information disclosure among providers has been omitted
from the rule. Instead,
patients will generally be asked to sign or otherwise
acknowledge that they have received from their direct treatment
providers information about their privacy rights under the
providers' information practices.
The
rule also allows state and metropolitan hospital associations
and researchers to use non-facially identifiable information,
such as dates of services, for public health and quality
assurance measures. Most
covered entities have until April 14, 2003 to comply with the
patient privacy rule, while certain small health plans have
until April 14, 2004. For
a HHS press release on the new rule, go to http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/hipaa.html.
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