final rule

Deadline Approaching to Revise HIPAA Policies

Wyatt Data Privacy & Security, HIPAA , , , , , , , , , , ,

By: Margaret Young Levi

The December 23, 2024 deadline is fast approaching for HIPAA covered entities, including health care providers and health plans, to revise their HIPAA policies and procedures relating to reproductive health.

Earlier this year, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Final Rule prohibiting the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to lawful reproductive health care in certain circumstances. This will require HIPAA covered entities to amend their policies and procedures, as well as their Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP). While updates to policies and procedures must be completed by December 23, 2024, the new NPP requirements will not go into effect until February 16, 2026. Some covered entities will need to amend their business associate agreements if the agreements permit an activity no longer permitted under the revised Privacy Rule.

For additional information about this Final Rule, please check out our previous article on this topic. 

Looking for assistance in this area? We regularly work with our clients regarding their policies and procedures related to compliance with HIPAA and other data privacy and security laws and regulations.  If you are looking for assistance in this area, contact Kathie McDonald-McClure at (502) 562-7526 or Margaret Levi Young at (859) 288-7469. To learn more about Wyatt’s health care, data privacy and cyber security practice, visit the following Wyatt website pages: Wyatt Data Privacy & Cyber Security and Wyatt Health Care.

Final Rules for Stage 2 EHR Incentive Programs Released

Margaret Young Levi EHR Certification Standards, Electronic Health Records, Eligible Professional Incentives, Health Information Technology, HITECH Law, Hospital EHR Stimulus, Meaningful Use , , , , , , , , , ,

First, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the long-awaited final rule to govern Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. The rule specifies the Stage 2 criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to continue to participate in the EHR Incentive Programs.

  • Click here for the full text of CMS’s final rule.
  • Click here to see the fact sheet on CMS’s final rule.

Second,  the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) also announced a related final rule, which specifies the technical capabilities and related standards and implementation specifications that Certified EHR Technology will need to include to support the achievement of meaningful use by EPs, eligible hospitals, and CAHs under the EHR Incentive Programs.

  • Click here for the full text of the ONC rule.
  • Click here  to read a fact sheet on ONC’s standards and certification criteria final rule.

Stay tuned.  We will be posting more about these final rules in the days to come.