Practice Management Alert

Question: Will the new guidelines on HIPAA information sharing and opioid abuse affect the security of protected health information (PHI)?

Mississippi Subscriber

Answer: As the government continues to roll back restrictions and decrease administrative burdens, the jury is out on whether the reduction of regulations will lead to a less secure healthcare system.

"If there's a loosening of standards, it could reduce breaches related to a standard, even though privacy may have been eroded," says Jim Sheldon-Dean, principal and director of compliance services at Lewis Creek Systems LLC, in Charlotte, Vermont. "We have a lot to learn about where we are going in terms of societal acceptance of reduced privacy."

Resource:  For a closer look at the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights' take on information sharing under the opioid crisis Public Health Emergency declaration, visit www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hipaa-opioid-crisis.pdf.