HHS told us that they intended to have a
final regulation out by October to give the industry six months to adjust before
the April compliance deadline.
Congress is unlikely to act. The privacy community itself is not united on this.
Some maintain that the consent changes were of no consequence because patients
received no treatment without signing consent.
The regulatory risk is minimal as the
proposal generally relaxes the rule, not tightens it.
Operationally, it will add pain as organizations try to create systems that
efficiently meet the requirements. If the requirements change, plans have to
change.
Regards,
Dennis Melamed
Editor
Health Information Privacy
Alert
(703)704-5665
Hi All,
The proposed modifications to privacy rule were open for public
comment for 30 days, through April 26, 2002. I haven't found
anything on how long HHS will review the comments that were gathered in
those 30 days. My guess is that it will take 60 to 90 days to review the
comments and publish a final Reg that modifies the Privacy Rule. Then it
goes to the Office of Management and Budget for final review... probably
around 30 days.
Therefore we should see the final Privacy Modification Reg between
the end of June and the end of July. If the Office of Management and
Budget holds to their normal timeline, they will approve implementation
between the end of July to the end of August.....
Of course, all the scenarios assume that there is no delay for
Political or other reasons.... and Sen. Kennedy is/was
holding hearings on Medical Privacy. Bottom line, HHS is better known
for the dates that it misses than the dates that it makes.....
Question: Are the scenarios above accurate and probable? Am I
out in left field? Have they already been approved (not likely, since I
just got off the Office of Management and Budget website on pending rules
under review)? What happens if the modifications are NOT final before
April 2003? What's my risk if I implement Privacy with the
modifications, even though the mods aren't yet final?
Jim Moores - HIPAA Team Leader - Privacy
Antares Management
Solutions
23700 Commerce Park Road
Beachwood, Ohio
44122-5832
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