HIPAA now requires breach notification

Aug 24, 2009

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued new regulations requiring healthcare providers, health plans, and other entities covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to notify individuals when their health information is breached.

The breach notification regulations implement provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, passed as part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Developed by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the regulations require healthcare providers and other HIPAA-covered entities to promptly notify affected individuals of a breach, as well as the HHS secretary and the media for cases in which a breach affects more than 500 individuals. Breaches affecting fewer than 500 individuals will be reported to the HHS secretary on an annual basis. The regulations also require business associates of covered entities to notify the covered entity of breaches at or by the business associate.

"These protections will be a cornerstone of maintaining consumer trust as we move forward with meaningful use of electronic health records and electronic exchange of health information," said Robinsue Frohboese, acting director and principal deputy director of OCR, in a press release.

The regulations were developed after considering public comment received in response to an April 2009 request for information and after consultation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has issued companion breach notification regulations that apply to vendors of personal health records and certain others not covered by HIPAA.

To determine when information is "unsecured" and notification is required by the HHS and FTC rules, HHS is also issuing an update to its guidance specifying encryption and destruction as the technologies and methodologies that render protected health information unusable, unreadable, or indecipherable to unauthorized individuals. Entities subject to the HHS and FTC regulations that secure health information as specified by the guidance through encryption or destruction are relieved from having to notify in the event of a breach of such information. This guidance will be updated annually.

For more information, visit the HHS Office for Civil Rights Web site.