Assignment 3 – HIPAA and Florida Law While most health care providers have to adhere to the HIPAA privacy regulations, they also are required, in most circumstances, to comply with the law of the state in which they are providing services. For example, if a state law is considered “more stringent” than HIPAA then the provider must comply with both HIPAA and the state law. The term “more stringent” generally means to provide the individual or patient with greater protection of their information (medical records) or a greater right of access to their information. For example, the Florida law governing health care practitioners and the general release of patient information is found at 456.057(7)(a), F.S. (http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0400-0499/0456/Sections/0456.057.html (Links to an external site.)) The above law and HIPAA are similar in that both would allow for the disclosure of patient information, without the patient’s written consent, for the purposes of treating the patient. However, while HIPAA would also allow for the disclosure of patient information for the purposes of “payment” and “health care operations” the Florida law requires a patient’s written consent. So while HIPAA would allow a doctor to send information to a patient’s insurance company for the purposes of receiving payment, without the patient’s consent, Florida law requires that the patient provide written consent. Because this Florida law provides “greater protection” to the patient the doctor in this example must comply with both HIPAA and Florida law. In this week’s module there is a link to a summary of the HIPAA privacy rule. There have been some changes in the privacy rule since this summary was first posted in 2003, however, for the purposes of this assignment and providing a general overview of HIPAA it is right on point. Please review the entire summary (particularly definitions), but for the purposes of this assignment pay particular attention to “Permitted Uses and Disclosures” found on pages 4 and 5. Below are three Florida statutes dealing with the disclosure of patient information, please take a look at each statute and tell me if the Florida statute is “more stringent” than HIPAA and why. Using only the HIPAA standard for disclosures related to “Treatment”, “Payment”, and “Health Care Operations” is 394.4615, F.S., more stringent than HIPAA? Explain. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0394/Sections/0394.4615.html (Links to an external site.) 2.Using only the HIPAA standard for disclosures related to “Treatment”, “Payment”, and “Health Care Operations” is 397.501(7), F.S., more stringent than HIPAA? Explain. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0397/Sections/0397.501.html (Links to an external site.) 3. Using only the HIPAA standard for disclosures related to “Treatment”, “Payment”, and “Health Care Operations” is 760.40(2)(a), F.S., more stringent than HIPAA? Explain. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0760/Sections/0760.40.html (Links to an external site.) Correct website for Hippa is http://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/privacysummary.pdf
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