The Sept 23 deadline is past for compliance of the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule Here, but if you're still not 100 percent sure your HIPAA are in a row, here are first five of the 15 things to be mindful of from an article on the Beckers Hospital Review website.
1. The final rule expands patient rights by allowing them to ask for a copy of their electronic medical record in electronic form.
2. Under the final rule, when patients pay out of pocket in full, they can instruct their provider to refrain from sharing information about their treatment with their health plan.
3. If a Medicare beneficiary requests a restriction on the disclosure of PHI to Medicare for a covered service and pays out of pocket for the service, the provider must also restrict the disclosure of PHI regarding the service to Medicare.
4. The final rule sets new limits on how information can be used and disclosed for marketing and fundraising purposes, and it prohibits the sale of an individuals' health information without their permission.
5. Penalties for noncompliance with the final rule are based on the level of negligence with a maximum penalty of $1.5 million per violation.
Read the whole list.
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