HIPAA Blog

[ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 ]

 

More Stimulus Bill Issues: Are you an EMR user? The stimulus bill will give you some cash if you become one (and will take away cash if you don't). Like the Persians in "300," you're going to get pushed off that cliff at some point. And when you are, you'll have some special HIPAA rules to abide by:

Special Rules for EHR Users. Covered entities that use electronic health records are subjected to specific HIPAA requirements under ARRA. Under HIPAA, covered entities are required to provide an accounting of disclosures to individuals who ask, but need not account for disclosures made for treatment, payment, or healthcare related reasons. Under ARRA, if the covered entity has an EHR, it must also account for those disclosures, but only for a period half as long as required of other covered entities (i.e., three years). An EHR (or PHI in an EHR) cannot be sold or exchanged for remuneration except in specific situations (as part of a research project, the sale of a practice, etc.). Additionally, a covered entity that uses an EHR must also provide an electronic copy of an individual’s information in the EHR to the individual or any other person the individual designates, and may not charge anything for the service other than the covered entity’s actual labor cost in obtaining the information.

Jeff [5:31 PM]

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