HIPAA Guidelines Issued for Release of Medical Information

Concerns raised by media organizations were not addressed. Dozens of media groups, including MDDC, filed extensive comments seeking changes and clarification to the HIPAA rules for newsgathering purposes.

The HIPAA rules, which give patients complete control over their medical records and who sees them, were issued at the end of the Clinton administration.

Guidelines have now been released by the Bush administration to answer questions raised by health organizations and medical professionals. Health providers that violate the rules are subject to fines and jail time. Compliance is required by April 14, 2003. HHS plans to issue added modifications to the rule to prevent "unintended negative effects" of the privacy rule on "health care quality" or "health care access."

South Carolina physicians and Physicians Care Network have launched a constitutional challenge to the HIPAA rules.

In its pleading, the group states, "HHS has explicitly recognized that the statutory authority to regulate speech far beyond the limits of electronic transmission under HIPAA is highly suspect. HHS’s final rule attempts to regulate all forms of speech involving individually identifiable health information." This is the first such challenge HHS has faced.

- from NNA’s Inside Track