Insurers worried HIPAA expansion could hurt HIT adoption

The president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plan, the insurance industry’s trade group, is warning that language in the economic stimulus legislation that expands HIPPA privacy rules could have the unintended consequence of slowing the adoption of health information technology (Source: "AHIP Concerned with Privacy Provisions,” Health Data Management, Feb. 4, 2009).

At issue are provisions of the Health Information Technology Act that has been inserted in the economic recovery bill and strengthen HIPAA privacy rules by further restricting patient data for payment, treatment and operational functions. According to AHIP CEO Karen Ingagni, however, new marketing restrictions would prevent providers and payers from sending prescription refill reminders and preventive care notices.

Further, Ignani said that requiring covered entities to account for all disclosures of personal health information would discourage use of electronic health records systems because of the intense labor required to document all disclosures of electronic data.