The Omnibus rule, also known as the “Final” rule changed HIPAA in many ways. It gave HIPAA teeth and included business associates as being liable under the HIPAA rules. I thought most medical providers had been made aware of the many changes, but it has come to my attention that many are not.
This article we will discuss one of the confusing segments of the Omnibus rule, which is the restriction on disclosures for payments out of pocket by a patient.
Under the Omnibus rule, individuals have the right to obtain restrictions on the disclosure of their protected health information (PHI) in electronic or any other form to a health plan for payment or healthcare operations for specific items and services that the individual has paid out of pocket and in full. Such requests for restrictions must be granted by the practice unless disclosure is “required by law.” More on this later in this article.
Medical practices should consider various methods for segmenting restricted PHI such as “flags,” subfolders within the chart, special notations in the record, or other ways to ensure the restricted PHI is not inadvertently disclosed to the health plan in the event of an audit.
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Thursday, November 17, 2022
