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As one man tries to put a chink in HIPAA's armor, NCVHS recommends changes

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, April 5, 2004

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A Seattle man who spent 29 hours probing hospital officials for information on his hospitalized 91-year-old mother is on a crusade to change the privacy rule, the Associated Press (AP) reported March, 31.

HIPAA blocked Stuart Hunt's many attempts to reach his ailing mother, and that experience inspired him to hold public discussion forums, pester politicians, and lobby federal agencies about the law, the AP says.

The Washington-area reportedly told Hunt in private that they were "too conservative" in their enforcement of the rule, the AP says.

The National Center for Vital Health Statistics (NCVHS) is also recommending HIPAA changes, but for the sake of clarifying the interaction of privacy rules and public health reporting. NCVHS held hearings on the privacy rule and made several recommendations for the rule to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The recommendations include:

* Providers can, without written authorization, disclose immunization information to schools as a public-health disclosure.

* HHS should create an exception to the right of the individual to an accounting of disclosures in the case of suspected child abuse or neglect.

* HHS should permit an abbreviated notice of privacy practices for nontraditional treatment settings, or eliminate the requirement to retain acknowledgment of receipt of notice.

* HHS should clarify that HIPAA doesn't require an institutional review board evaluation of stand-alone authorizations for use or disclosure of PHI for research.

To view other NCVHS recommendations and the full report, visit http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/040305l2.htm

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