The Department of Health and Human Services announced it will release proposed HIPAA/HITECH Act regulations later this month, according to the HHS’s recently-published regulatory agenda, available at 75 Fed. Reg. 217821. The announcement itself was pretty cryptic:
120. MODIFICATIONS TO THE HIPAA PRIVACY, SECURITY, AND ENFORCEMENT RULES
UNDER THE HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR ECONOMIC AND CLINICAL HEALTH ACT
Legal Authority: PL 111-5, secs 13400 to 13410
Abstract: The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil
Rights will issue rules to modify the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and
Enforcement Rules as necessary to implement the privacy, security, and
certain enforcement provisions of subtitle D of the Health Information
Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (Title XIII of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).
The proposed regulations will apparently cover changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and enforcement, consistent with the mandates of the HITECH Act.