New HHS Final Rule Strengthening Reproductive Healthcare Privacy: HIPAA Updates, Possible State Law Conflicts

Strafford

This CLE webinar will guide healthcare practitioners through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) final rule amending HIPAA privacy regulations governing the use and disclosure of PHI related to reproductive healthcare information (RHI). The panel will discuss the final rule's requirements for regulated entities and under what circumstances they are prohibited from disclosing RHI. The panel will also address the dilemma facing regulated entities when determining whether to comply with state laws requiring the disclosure of RHI or HIPAA's privacy prohibitions and offer best practices for compliance.

Description

OCR recently published a far-reaching final rule amending the HIPAA privacy rule and providing new protections for the privacy of RHI. The rule requires compliance by Dec. 23, 2024, with the exception of the notice of privacy practices (NPP) provisions requiring compliance by Feb. 16, 2026.

The rule's purpose is to restrict the circumstances under which HIPAA-covered entities and their business associates (regulated entities) may disclose RHI by prohibiting its use or disclosure to conduct a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation into a person, or to impose civil, criminal, or administrative liability on any person, for the mere act of seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating reproductive healthcare that is lawful under the circumstances in which it was provided.

To ensure compliance, the rule requires regulated entities that receive requests for RHI related to law enforcement, judicial, or administrative purposes to obtain a signed attestation from the requestor to verify that the use or disclosure of the RHI is not prohibited as described in the rule. The rule allows for healthcare providers to presume the healthcare provided was lawful under the circumstances it was provided unless they have actual knowledge or factual information to the contrary.

Regardless, the rule now puts regulated entities in the difficult position of deciding whether to comply with a state law requirement to disclose information or the HIPAA privacy prohibition.

The rule also requires regulated entities to revise their NPPs to reflect the rule's changes and also to address proposed changes made in the NPRM for the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorders which were finalized in connection with this rule.

Listen as our expert panel guides practitioners through the new amendments to the HIPAA privacy rule and the significant impact it will have on regulated entities. The panel will also offer best practices for compliance.

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