Info Blocking 'Disincentives' Rule Brings Penalties; Data-Sharing Adjustments Needed

Healthcare and privacy attorney Beth Pitman was mentioned in a Part B News article about a final rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) establishing financial penalties for providers who commit information blocking. Information blocking refers to preventing the exchange of personal health information (PHI) between providers or between a provider and a patient. The article discussed the potential conflict between the rule's goal of encouraging the free exchange of medical information and the privacy and security aspects of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Ms. Pitman noted recent HHS HIPAA amendments regarding reproductive health information as a potential area of concern, in addition to ways in which the new rule could affect providers accustomed to dealing with PHI with particularly tight privacy requirements, such as Part 2 Substance Use Disorder (SUD) information.

"Under these recent HIPAA amendments, disclosure of reproductive health information is prohibited based on the purpose for which the disclosure is made," she said. "Part 2 SUD providers are very used to protecting that information and keeping it segregated and addressing how it is disclosed. But for a general hospital, for example, that might receive Part 2 information, it's more challenging to establish a technical process to flag and protect that information from further disclosure."

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