Health Law

HITECH/HIPAA Compliance Newsletter August 2009 Released
Our first issue of the HITECH/HIPAA Compliance Newsletter was released this morning. The featured article is entitled "HITECH/HIPAA and Meaningful Use: Part I." Any new subscribers between July 30, 2009 and August 15, 2009 will be sent an individual copy...

8/25/09 webinar to discuss soon-to-be-implemented breach notification requirements of the HITECH Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included the HITECH Act, a law supporting the development of a nationwide health information technology (HIT) infrastructure for the use and exchange of health information for patient care....

HITECH/HIPAA Timelines
Here are some of the relevant timelines for HITECH/HIPAA compliance. Refer to the Subtitle-D table of contents below for a quick reference to the respective sections. HITECH enactment (February 17, 2009) Tiered civil penalties based on the nature of HIPAA...

HITECH/HIPAA: Haven't Heard of HL7 Yet
The pieces of this puzzle are coming together and they have nothing to do with "healthcare reform" and everything to do with the HITECH Act that was signed into law in February 2009...

The HITECH Act One Year Later: Real Healthcare Reform Part II
What is the state of the HITECH rollout vis-a-vis its effective dates? A summary of the HITECH Act effective dates for its various provisions can be found here. On February 17, 2009 Upon Enactment Application of tiered civil monetary penalties...

How will the HITECH Act Change HIPAA Enforcement
You can review HHS' past HIPAA enforcement process as a reference point for how things are likely to change under the HITECH Act. The diagram below is certain to change once the HITECH effective dates kick in.

EHR & HITECH/HIPAA: Mother of Wicked Problems: Part V
The governance issues related to HITECH/HIPAA compliance were discussed in Governance Under HITECH/HIPAA: Two Types of Risk? By far, the business risks associated with non-compliance will completely overshadow the compliance risks, despite the fact that the HITECH Act has completely...

Reaction to HITECH and ARRA
What's your reaction been to ARRA and HITECH? The so-called Stimulus Bill (ARRA) contained the acronymiously adventurous HITECH provisions (that's the Health Information Technology for Econimic and Clinical Health Act), which strengthened HIPAA penalties, added more potential HIPAA regulators and enforcers, and made more people subject to HIPAA...

New Data Breach rules and preemption
Do the New Data Breach Rules Pre-Empt State Data Breach Laws? (And if so, partially or completely?) Excellent question and answer from Edward Shay of Post & Schell: In an exchange on the AHLA's HIT listserv this morning, hipaacrat Shay had the following to say (HITECH is the HIPAA portion of ARRA):"Yesterday on the HITECH Part I conference call, Dan Orenstein asked me if I thought that HITECH

Why HITECH/HIPAA Compliance is a Wicked Problem
There are many reasons why HITECH/HIPAA compliance is a "wicked problem." To move along the compliance continuum from "no story" to a "good story" is a non-trivial exercise. However true that may be, the real reason that HITECH/HIPAA is a...