Are HIPAA Changes Coming?

December 18th, 2018 - Wyn Staheli, Director of Research

Categories: Compliance HIPAA|PHI

On December 14, 2018, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Request for Information (RFI). They are considering making changes to some of the HIPAA regulations. Earlier this year at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) meeting, Roger Severino, the head of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) gave a presentation in which he outlined some possible changes to the HIPAA regulations. This RFI is the first step.

According to the release,“OCR seeks information on the provisions of the HIPAA Rules that may present obstacles to, or place unnecessary burdens on, the ability of covered entities and business associates to conduct care coordination and/or case management, or that may inhibit the transformation of the health care system to a value-based health care system.”

They are seeking input on:

"Promoting information sharing for treatment and care coordination and/or case management by amending the Privacy Rule to encourage, incentivize, or require covered entities to disclose PHI to other covered entities.
Encouraging covered entities, particularly providers, to share treatment information with parents, loved ones, and caregivers of adults facing health emergencies, with a particular focus on the opioid crisis.
Implementing the HITECH Act requirement to include, in an accounting of disclosures, disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations (TPO) from an electronic health record (EHR) in a manner that provides helpful information to individuals, while minimizing regulatory burdens and disincentives to the adoption and use of interoperable EHRs.
Eliminating or modifying the requirement for covered health care providers to make a good faith effort to obtain individuals' written acknowledgment of receipt of providers' Notice of Privacy Practices, to reduce burden and free up resources for covered entities to devote to coordinated care without compromising transparency or an individual's awareness of his or her rights."

One thing mentioned by Severino at HIMSS was that the OCR was considering requesting information on how some of the settlements and civil monetary penalties it collects can be directed to the victims of healthcare data breaches and HIPAA violations. That topic was not included in this particular RFI, but it might be something to consider when making your comments.

These are all issues that have presented problems and we encourage you to let your voices be heard to make changes that are beneficial to the healthcare community.

Comments are due by February 11, 2019 so if you want to provide feedback, use one of the following and reference RIN 0945-AA00 or Docket HHS-OCR-0945-AA00:

Federal eRulemaking Portal. You may submit electronic comments at http://www.regulations.gov by searching for the Docket ID number HHS-OCR-0945-AA00. Follow the instructions for sending comments.
Hand-Delivery or Regular, Express, or Overnight Mail: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, Attention: RFI, RIN 0945-AA00, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Room 509F, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201.

###

Questions, comments?

If you have questions or comments about this article please contact us. Comments that provide additional related information may be added here by our Editors.

Latest articles: (any category)

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare - A Medical Coder's Perspective
December 26th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

We constantly hear how AI is creeping into every aspect of healthcare but what does that mean for medical coders and how can we better understand the language used in the codeset? Will AI take my place or will I learn with it and become an integral part of the process that uses AI to enhance my abilities?

Specialization: Your Advantage as a Medical Coding Contractor
December 22nd, 2023 - Find-A-Code

Medical coding contractors offer a valuable service to healthcare providers who would rather outsource coding and billing rather than handling things in-house. Some contractors are better than others, but there is one thing they all have in common: the need to present some sort of value proposition in order to land new clients. As a contractor, your value proposition is the advantage you offer. And that advantage is specialization.

ICD-10-CM Coding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
December 19th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

Chronic respiratory disease is on the top 10 chronic disease list published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although it is a chronic condition, it may be stable for some time and then suddenly become exacerbated and even impacted by another acute respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, RSV, or COVID-19. Understanding the nuances associated with the condition and how to properly assign ICD-10-CM codes is beneficial.

Changes to COVID-19 Vaccines Strike Again
December 12th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

According to the FDA, CDC, and other alphabet soup entities, the old COVID-19 vaccines are no longer able to treat the variants experienced today so new vaccines have been given the emergency use authorization to take the place of the old vaccines. No sooner was the updated 2024 CPT codebook published when 50 of the codes in it were deleted, some of which were being newly added for 2024.

Updated ICD-10-CM Codes for Appendicitis
November 14th, 2023 - Aimee Wilcox

With approximately 250,000 cases of acute appendicitis diagnosed annually in the United States, coding updates were made to ensure high-specificity coding could be achieved when reporting these diagnoses. While appendicitis almost equally affects both men and women, the type of appendicitis varies, as dose the risk of infection, sepsis, and perforation.

COVID Vaccine Coding Changes as of November 1, 2023
October 26th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli

COVID vaccine changes due to the end of the PHE as of November 1, 2023 are addressed in this article.

Medicare Guidance Changes for E/M Services
October 11th, 2023 - Wyn Staheli

2023 brought quite a few changes to Evaluation and management (E/M) services. The significant revisions as noted in the CPT codebook were welcome changes to bring other E/M services more in line with the changes that took place with Office or Other Outpatient Services a few years ago. As part of CMS’ Medicare Learning Network, the “Evaluation and Management Services Guide” publication was finally updated as of August 2023 to include the changes that took place in 2023. If you take a look at the new publication (see references below),....