The
Department of Health & Human Services recently pushed forward a
HITECH-required proposed rule on accounting of disclosures of EHRs. The rule
will lay the foundation for what healthcare providers will be accountable for when
patients request disclosures of their electronic medical records.
The rule is in the hands of the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), which reviews all rules before they become final. Its review could take
up to 90 days. HITECH expands an individual's right to request information from
his/her health record.
In May 2010, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the enforcer of
the HIPAA privacy and security rules published a notice in the Federal
Register asking for help crafting this proposed rule on the accounting of
disclosures on EHRs. OCR wrote that it wanted to "better understand the
interests of individuals with respect to learning of such disclosures, the administrative burden on covered entities and business associates of accounting
for such disclosures, and other information that may inform [its] rulemaking in
this area."
Watch for more information on the new rulemaking in
upcoming HCP Forum articles.