HIPAA
(April 2005
, Volume 2)
… Now that I mentioned HIPAA, why are so many practitioners under the impression that they are “covered providers” under HIPAA (the “Privacy Rule”) when they are in fact not? In essence, a covered provider is someone who practices health care and transmits any health information in electronic form (for example, via the Internet or Extranet, dial-up lines) in connection with a transaction for which the Secretary (of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) has adopted standards. Some therapists only deal with cash paying clients while others may only bill insurance by paper and the mail. State law may differ from HIPAA regulations. If I were not a “covered provider” under HIPAA, I probably would not want to voluntarily comply with the HIPAA requirements, but would want to continue to comply with state law. See http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa for more information about HIPAA.
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HIPAA
(May 2005
, Volume 1)
… What is the difference between the way that HIPAA treats the subject of parental access to a minor’s records and the way your state law treats the issue? Likely none, since HIPAA essentially defers to state law regarding the subject. Not so with other issues, where state law and HIPAA may conflict. If one is a “covered provider,” for example, state law may have to give way to HIPAA requirements, like in those states where HIPAA provides the adult patient with greater rights to access his or her records than does the state law.
… If a health care provider transmits health information in electronic form with respect to one transaction with an insurance company for which the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has adopted standards, is the health care provider covered by the requirements of the HIPAA “Privacy Rule” with respect to his or her entire practice, even though all other patients pay in cash or by check? The answer, in short, is “yes!”
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