June 2001 News Archives
June 28, 2001
Privacy Regs Loophole Gives Police Access to Records Without
Patient's Consent
According to Wired News, a little-noticed loophole in new medical
privacy regulations allows law enforcement access to medical records
without the patient's consent. Will doctors soon be reading you
your rights? Full
Story.
June 27, 2001
AMA MasterFile, Digital ID System Called Vulnerable
The California Medical Association (CMA) is raising concerns about
the American
Medical Association's (AMA) MasterFile, a nationwide physician database,
and its digital identification program, "charg[ing]" that
both systems are "open to hacking and unauthorized changes
over the Internet," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Full
Story.
June 27, 2001 EMR
Rule May Be Released Next Year
The Department of Health and Human Services has indicated it will
release a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) proposing EMR standards
under a HIPAA mandate to "study the issues related to the adoption
of uniform data standards for patient medical record information
(PMRI) and the electronic exchange of such information," according
to a report in Health Leaders magazine. HIPAA observers believe
notice will be published during the second quarter of 2002. Full
Story.
June 27, 2001 Two
Dozen Groups Push Congress for HIPAA Delay
According to Health Data Management, some 25 provider and payer
organizations recently sent a letter to each member of Congress,
calling for support of legislation to establish uniform, delayed
implementation dates for HIPAA administrative simplification rules.
Signers of the letter contend the October 2002 date to comply with
the final TCS rule is unrealistic. Read
more.
June 26, 2001 CERT
Web Site Attacked
Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks like the recent one on the CERT
Web site, the Internet's main warning system for security threats,
are becoming more dangerous and all too common. Security experts
agree: The Net is unprepared for handling what could become a DoS
catastrophe. Full
Story
June 25, 2001 NAIFA
Develops Insurance Producer Privacy Guide
The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA)
has developed an Insurance Producer Privacy Guide, which is available
to all members on the NAIFA website
(www.naifa.org). The purpose of the Guide is to assist NAIFA
members in complying with the new privacy obligations of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act (GLBA) and other federal and state laws and regulations that
require insurance producers to implement certain procedures by July
1, 2001.
June 25, 2001
Bush Seeks Law Banning Genetic Discrimination
President Bush reveals his stance on an emerging patients' rights
issue that has some momentum in Congress. Bush equated discrimination
based on genetic information with race, age and gender bias, and
said he would support legislation to make it illegal. Full
Story.
June 25, 2001 CHIP Letter to Key
Senate Democrats: Don't Delay HIPAA
Believing that if passed, legislation to delay HIPAA may in effect
kill it, the Coalition for Health Information Policy (CHIP) has
sent a letter to key Senate Democrats asking them to oppose legislation
and other efforts to delay the TCS rule. Read
the letter.
June 22, 2001 US
financial privacy notices slammed, action sought
Facing a July 1 deadline to comply with new privacy protections,
financial firms have sent out an estimated half a billion privacy
notices to their customers. The law also requires the firms to give
customers the chance to opt out of having some information sold
to outside companies. But consumer groups, fearing many are not
even going to understand the limited new rights they do have because
many of the notices are legalistic, confusing and hard to read,
said they would ask regulators to step in to make them easier to
comprehend. Full
Story.
June 20, 2001 AHIMA to Review New
Terminology Mapping to ICD-9-CM
AHIMA announced a collaborative agreement with the College of American
Pathologists (CAP) to validate the mapping of SNOMED® RT, the
Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Reference Terminology, to
ICD-9-CM diagnostic coding terms. AHIMA will review a five-percent
sample of SNOMED terms to assess the effectiveness and reliability
of the SNOMED® RT to ICD-9-CM mapping process. Results will
be used to refine the mapping process, as well as advance the healthcare
industry's understanding of any limitations the crosswalk between
the systems may have for reimbursement and other administrative
uses.
Full Story.
June 20, 2001 TRUSTe Launches Privacy
Symbols and Labels Initiative
TRUSTe announced yesterday that it has launched an initiative to
build a broad coalition - from government to advocacy to industry
- to develop unified, consumer-friendly privacy policy symbols and
labels. Notices that individuals are receiving today online and
in the mail are not clear enough to help them make informed decisions.
The new standard iconography will dramatically improve consumer
understanding of how their personal information is used. Full
Story.
June 18, 2001 EU
approves standard rules for non-EU data transfer
The European Commission (EU) said on Monday it had adopted standard
contract clauses that would guarantee secure exchange of customers'
data between the EU and other countries. By adopting such model
clauses, companies based outside the 15-nation bloc would immediately
comply with the EU legislation and avoid potential lawsuits. Full
Story.
June 18, 2001 Braithwaite Plans
to Announce Publication Schedule According to a presentation
available on the HIPAA Summit web site, Bill Braithwaite, Senior
Advisor on Health Information Policy at the Department of Health
and Human Services, will announce publication schedule for the remaining
HIPAA rules. Both the security final rule and the enforcement Notice
of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) are expected this year. Read
more.
June 15, 2001 AHA responds to Rep.
Markey on HIPAA
According to "AHA News Now," the American Hospital
Association (AHA) told Rep. Markey and 30 other members of Congress
it has concerns with a letter the members sent to President Bush
saying he shouldn't change or delay privacy provisions of HIPAA.
AHA's letter, signed by Exec. Vice President Rick Pollack and sent
June 13th, commended Markey for his leadership on health care issues
but expressed disagreement with some of Markey's conclusions. Read
more.
June 14, 2001 Earnhardts
Win Fight to Keep Photos Sealed
Autopsy photos of auto-racing star Dale Earnhardt will remain sealed
to spare his family an "unspeakable" violation of privacy, a circuit
judge in Daytona Beach ruled Wednesday. Read
more.
June 11, 2001
HHS Guidance on HIPAA Expected Soon; No New Comment Period
According to the American Hospital Association, a long-awaited guidance
document on steps necessary to implement HIPAA privacy regulations
is expected to be released in the next few days. HHS sources told
AHA staff that the rule will not be opened up for another comment
period. HHS recently finished its work on the guidance document,
which is at the Office of Management and Budget for clearance. The
White House has seen the document and has apparently not provided
much comment. The guidance is approximately 60 pages long and provides
explanations of intent and then a Q&A section.
June 11, 2001
JCAHO Writes Letter of Comment about HIPAA Regulations
JCAHO has written a letter of comment to HCFA addressing its concern
that accrediting bodies be reclassified as "health care oversight
agencies" rather than as "business associates." According to JCAHO,
classification as a business associate would require each of its
accredited organizations to sign a contract and would create barriers
to accessing information needed for accreditation purposes. Its
effect would be to increase costs and complicate processes, without
any benefit to patient rights or patient privacy. HHS Sec. Tommy
Thompson has said that HHS will consider changes to the business
associate requirements, and HHS is preparing a Notice of Proposed
Rule Making for publication in the Federal Register-the first step
in changing the regulation.
June 8, 2001 DHHS Announces Regulatory
Reform Task Force
Secretary Thompson announced that a cross-Departmental Task Force
on Regulatory Reform is being created immediately, headed by the
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, to steer an ongoing
review of HHS regulations and to oversee changes in regulations.
HIPAA regulations were not specifically mentioned as targets for
the new Task Force. Full Story.
June 1, 2001
Prescription Privacy Debated
Are law enforcement officers allowed to enter a pharmacy and look
through a customer's prescription records on demand, without a search
warrant or subpoena? They are, according to a report in the Hartford
Courant, one Connecticut state's attorney argued to the justices
of the state Supreme Court Thursday, even while acknowledging that
the notion is disconcerting and subject to abuse. Full
Story.
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