HHS Clarifies Uses and Disclosures Points

Recently, Health and Human Services posted clarification for two questions.

The first question is " Does HIPAA permit one health plan to share protected health information (PHI) about individuals in common with a second health plan for care coordination purposes?" and the short answer is yes.

The second question is " Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit a covered entity to use and disclose PHI to inform individuals about other available health plans that it offers, without the individuals’ authorization, if the covered entity received the PHI for a different purpose?" and the short answer is yes, consistent with the Privacy Rule (ref 45 CFR § 164.502). HHS also clarified when Covered Entities are prohibited from disclosing PHI.

While we focus on helping people protect ePHI, understanding the Privacy Rule is important to all of our partners. Please click the DoHHS logo graphic below to read the source material.