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Sunday, September 1, 2013

Looking at the HIPAA Final Omnibus Rule: An Attorney’s Perspective

By Mark Hagland
Healthcare Informatics
Originally published August 18, 2013

The stringent requirements embedded in what is being called the “HIPAA Final Omnibus Rule”—a set of regulations published by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 25—are changing the ground rules for healthcare provider organizations across the U.S. when it comes to safeguarding protected health information (PHI). Those requirements extend the privacy, security, enforcement, and breach notification rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Health Information Technology for economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.

With compliance with the “Omnibus Rule” required by September 23, healthcare leaders have no time to waste when it comes to understanding and addressing the new requirements.

Recently, Kathryn Coburn, who is of counsel with the Los Altos, Calif.-based law firm of Cooke, Kobrick & Wu, LLP, spoke with HCI Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland regarding this important topic. The Santa Monica-based Coburn has spent 30 years in healthcare law. Below are excerpts from that interview.


Thanks to Ken Pope for this information.