H. Carol Saul, a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the Atlanta office, was quoted on the changes that home health agencies need to make to their Notice of Privacy Practices as a result of recent HIPAA amendments.
In the article, "An Old Notice of Privacy Practices Could Create New HIPAA Headaches," Saul pointed out that agencies might not have realized that they need to update their notices because the HIPAA amendments (included in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act) don't clearly spell out the changes.
Saul recommended that agencies include certain rights in their notice, such as notice that providers are required to comply with patients' requests not to share protected health information with health plans. Among other rights she recommends be included: patients have the right to opt out of releasing protected health information for fundraising purposes; patients have the right to see copies of their electronic health records; and patients can direct that their records be sent to a third party.