In
February 2016, The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology (ONC) launched a new four-part blog series to explain the permitted
uses of health information under HIPAA. The series emphasizes that HIPAA not
only protects personal health information from misuse, it also enables personal
health information to be accessed, used or disclosed interoperably, when and
where it is needed for patient care.
We
begin our coverage of the four-part series with Part 1: “The Real HIPAA Supports Interoperability.” This
introductory post establishes HIPAA as serving the dual functions of protecting
personal health information from misuse and also enabling personal health information
to be used between Covered Entities (CE) under specific conditions.
ONC
released two new fact sheets which give numerous examples of
when electronic health information can be exchanged without first requiring an
authorization or a writing of some type from the patient, so long as other
protections or conditions are met. HIPAA provides many pathways for permissibly
exchanging Protected Health Information (PHI).
The new fact sheets remind stakeholders through
practical, real-life scenarios, that HIPAA supports interoperability because it
gives providers permission to share PHI for patient care, quality improvement,
population health, and other activities.
Next week, the blog series will continue to delve further
into Permitted Uses and Disclosures. As per ONC, Blog #2 will be background on
HIPAA’s Permitted Uses and Disclosures: what they are, and how they
advance the national goal of interoperability. Blog #3 will give examples of
exchange of health information for Care Coordination, Care Planning, and
Case Management, both between providers, and between provider and payers.
Finally, Blog #4 will give examples of interoperable, permissible exchange of
PHI for Quality Assurance and Population-Based Activities, including via
a health information exchange.
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