On September 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidance to help the public understand when the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule applies to disclosures and requests for information about whether a person has received a COVID-19 vaccine.
The guidance reminds the public that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to employers or employment records.… More
We all assume that our genetic information is personal and private. This may not be totally correct, but that assumption goes completely out the window when you are an identical twin. This question is explored in an interesting article in the Journal of Genetic Counseling. The twins were interviewed in the MIT Technology Review. More
With relatively little fanfare, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed S.2158, into law on April 27, 2012, making HIV testing possible with simply verbal consent, as opposed to written consent. The legislation amends Mass. Gen. L. ch. 111, section 70F; its aim is to increase screening for HIV and I believe it will have that effect.
Will the change in the law have an impact on health information management?… More