OCR Provides Further Clarification on Charging Flat Rate for Copies of PHI

By on June 21, 2016

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services recently provided further clarification about the amount that an individual may be charged for a copy of their protected health information (PHI). After releasing guidance earlier this year about individuals’ rights under HIPAA to access and obtain a copy of their health information, OCR provided clarification in response to questions it received after releasing the guidance. In a new frequently asked questions, OCR clarifies that $6.50 is not the maximum amount that can be charged to provide individuals with a copy of their PHI. Rather, OCR states that charging a flat fee of $6.50 is an option available to those covered entities (or business associate acting on behalf of the covered entity) that do not want to calculate the allowable fees for providing individuals with copies of their PHI as provided by the Privacy Rule.

Filed under Protected Health Information Tagged with , ,

HIPAA – Are you ready for an audit?

By on June 10, 2016

HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is well known to all health care providers, as it governs the privacy of patient information, among other things. The basic parameters of the Privacy Rule should be known to all providers who handle protected health information.

The Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”) has launched a new audit initiative to make sure that health care providers are complying with HIPAA. Concerning its initiative, OCR says, “OCR’s audits will enhance industry awareness of compliance obligations and enable OCR to better target technical assistance regarding problems identified through the audits.” Providers would be well advised to ensure that they are ready for a HIPAA audit and are in full compliance with the Privacy Rule.

Filed under HIPAA, HIPAA Privacy Rule, Information Technology Security, Internal Compliance Investigations, Office of Civil Rights Tagged with