HIPAA – #HITsm Chat Topic

We’re excited to share the topic and questions for this week’s #HITsm chat happening Friday, 5/28 at Noon ET (9 AM PT). This week’s chat will be hosted by John Lynn (@techguy) from @hcitoday on the topic “HIPAA.”

HIPAA has to be one of the least understood rules in the world.  We see this first hand as people invoke the name of HIPAA as they talk about their immunization status being shared with a venue.  Obviously, there’s the widespread belief (false of course) that HIPAA protects health information broadly.  If you’re reading this site, then you know that HIPAA only applies to covered entities.  What’s a covered entity?  The simplistic description is medical providers and insurance companies.  Yes, that means that your local concert arena is not a covered entity and HIPAA doesn’t apply.

It’s easy to see the confusion.  HIPAA is intended to protect the privacy of your health information that’s being shared between care providers and insurers.  Many people just leave that last part out and so people think it’s supposed to keep your health information private.  In fact, if we go back to the core of HIPAA, it’s actual intent was to help medical professionals actually share your information.  That’s why it’s the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.  Many think the P is Privacy, but it’s actually portability since HIPAA was supposed to help healthcare organizations make your health information more portable, but to do so in a way that still protects your privacy.

Of course, we all know how some people have taken HIPAA and corrupted it as an excuse not to share information.  I’ve often said that the easiest way to hijack any project in a healthcare organization is to call out HIPAA.  You don’t even have to be right, but as soon as someone says HIPAA, everything grinds to a halt while you work out the details.

In some ways, that’s not a bad thing since a little extra focus on privacy and security of health info is beneficial.  However, many create fears around HIPAA for other reasons.  It’s a shame when they do this.

Of course, HIPAA was passed back in 1996 with only small changes every since with the 2013 Omnibus rule being the biggest change.  While I hear many talk about the fact that HIPAA hasn’t been changed in 8 years and has had very few changes in 25 years, they usually argue that it’s in need of revamping.  However, I personally look at it as one of the most well written regulations I’ve ever seen.  It’s flexible enough without being too proscriptive.  The culture of invoking HIPAA inappropriately is bad, but the HIPAA regulation itself has stood the test of time better than most regulations.

That said, there are opportunities for improvement to HIPAA.  In fact, we should see changes to HIPAA very soon.  If it weren’t for COVID-19, they’d probably already be in place.

In this week’s chat, we’re going to talk about HIPAA.  We’ll share what we think of the new changes and what other changes you’d like made.  Plus, we’ll look at how it helps and hinders innovation and what a new broader consumer privacy law might look like.  Plus, we’ll be interested to hear your favorite examples of HIPAA being applied incorrectly.

Join us for this week’s #HITsm chat where we’ll discuss the following.

Topics for this week’s #HITsm Chat:

T1: What are some examples of HIPAA being mentioned incorrectly? How do you see it being inappriately mentioned/appled? #HITsm

T2: What do you think of the new changes to HIPAA? See: https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2020/12/15/proposed-changes-to-hipaa/ Do they go far enough? What are they missing? #HITsm

T3: What does HIPAA accomplish that’s good? How does it hold back innovation? #HITsm

T4: Do you think we’ll see in 2021 a broader consumer privacy law? Will it go further than HIPAA or apply some of the same controls? #HITsm

T5: What percentage of healthcare organizations would survive a HIPAA audit unscathed? #HITsm

Bonus: How important is privacy in heaalthcare? #HITsm

Upcoming #HITsm Chat Schedule

6/4 -TBD
Hosted by TBD

6/11 -TBD
Hosted by TBD

6/18 -Healthcare Technology Regulation: Past, Present and Future
Hosted by Brendan Keeler (@healthbjk)

6/25 -TBD
Hosted by Cait DesRoches, DrPH (@cmd418) and Liz Salmi (@TheLizArmy)

We look forward to learning from the #HITsm community! As always, let us know if you’d like to host a future #HITsm chat or if you know someone you think we should invite to host.

If you’re searching for the latest #HITsm chat, you can always find the latest #HITsm chat and schedule of chats here.