The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has delayed indefinitely enforcing provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule requiring medical labs to revise their notices of privacy practices that routinely are given to patients to make them aware of HIPAA privacy protections and rights. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced Sept. 19 that HIPAA-covered medical labs certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments rules would not be required to update their notices of privacy practices (NPPs) as directed in the HIPAA omnibus rule published in January (78 Fed. Reg. 5566, Jan. 25, 2013). The OCR was scheduled to begin enforcing much of the HIPAA omnibus rule Sept. 23. The enforcement delay does not apply to labs that are part of larger entities, such as hospitals, and do not have their own lab-specific NPPs, the OCR said. Pending CLIA, HIPAA Rule The reason for the delay, the OCR explained, is because the OCR, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will, “in the coming months,” publish a final rule amending the HIPAA privacy rule and CLIA rules to give patients the ability to […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has delayed indefinitely enforcing provisions in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule requiring medical labs to revise their notices of privacy practices that routinely are given to patients to make them aware of HIPAA privacy protections and rights.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced Sept. 19 that HIPAA-covered medical labs certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments rules would not be required to update their notices of privacy practices (NPPs) as directed in the HIPAA omnibus rule published in January (78 Fed. Reg. 5566, Jan. 25, 2013). The OCR was scheduled to begin enforcing much of the HIPAA omnibus rule Sept. 23.
The enforcement delay does not apply to labs that are part of larger entities, such as hospitals, and do not have their own lab-specific NPPs, the OCR said.
Pending CLIA, HIPAA Rule
The reason for the delay, the OCR explained, is because the OCR, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will, “in the coming months,” publish a final rule amending the HIPAA privacy rule and CLIA rules to give patients the ability to request test results directly from labs.
“Consequently, the affected laboratories would need to ensure that their NPPs inform individuals of this new right and include a brief description of how to exercise the right,” the OCR said in announcing the delay.
The HHS agencies proposed the modifications to the CLIA and HIPAA rules in 2011, and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted on its reginfo.gov Web site Sept. 19 that it had received the final regulation for review. Review by the OMB is a final step in completing the rulemaking process.
Takeaway: Labs will have more time to comply with the HIPAA privacy rule requiring them to revise their notice of privacy practices.
