Significant New HIPM Provisions in the Recent Economic Stimulus Package

摘要

Last February, Congress enacted the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act as part of the recent federal stimulus package. The HITECH Act provides more than dollar19 billion in funding to promote the adoption of electronic medical records in the health care industry. However, the prospect of making health information available electronically has raised privacy and security concerns. Accordingly, Congress also included in the HITECH Act substantial changes to the privacy and security requirements of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These changes will require all HIPAA-covered entities to revise their policies and procedures and reevaluate some of their existing privacy and security practices. In addition, HIPAA will apply directly to business associates, who will need to develop new policies and procedures.