AHIOS Provides Public Comments on Reproductive Healthcare Privacy Proposed Rule
BOSTON – July 13, 2023 – The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services (AHIOS) today announced comprehensive public comments in response to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)’s proposed modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (RIN Number 0945–AA20).
In the comment letter, AHIOS emphasizes the importance of timely and secure access to medical records. The association highlights that efficient access to protected health information (PHI), with strict limitations on unauthorized use and disclosure, is critical for patient safety, care delivery and improved outcomes. AHIOS stresses the need to provide clarity to Covered Entities (CEs) regarding reproductive healthcare, including specific terms, codes, and diagnoses, to ensure compliance with applicable rules.
“AHIOS represents a group of organizations with deep expertise in medical record release, so when a proposed rule has implications on that process, we feel it’s important to share our informed perspective,” said Bart Howe, president of AHIOS and CEO of HealthMark Group. “We appreciate OCR’s ongoing efforts to find the right balance between privacy and access to protected health information. Our comments provide specific recommendations that will add clarity to some of the key provisions in the proposed rule as well as ease the burden of implementation.”
In its comment letter, AHIOS proposed several modifications to the proposed rule including:
- Clearly defining “reproductive health” and “reproductive healthcare.”
- Performing additional analysis on the potential economic burden for covered entities, then providing clear directives and insulation from liability that would mitigate this burden.
- Protecting against the commercialization, misuse and abuse of PHI through third-party directives.
- Replacing the attestation requirement with an individual authorization to place ultimate control in the hands of a patient.
- Instituting a standardized format to reduce the burden on covered entities for verification.
AHIOS remains committed to working collaboratively with OCR and other stakeholders to establish clear guidelines for the proper handling of patient medical records that include reproductive healthcare information.
Click here to read the full comment letter from AHIOS along with all of the other public comments on this pending legislation.
About The Association of Health Information Outsourcing Services (AHIOS)
Established in 1996, AHIOS is a trade association of leading health information outsourcing companies whose mission is to establish standards of excellence for the Release of Information (ROI) industry. AHIOS strives to achieve the highest levels of patient privacy throughout the ROI process by educating healthcare providers as well as federal and state agencies on the impact of legislative and regulatory initiatives and on the value that specialized ROI software and processes provide in safeguarding patient privacy and lowering healthcare costs. The association has developed a code of ethics, standards and professional values for HIM professionals; established the AHIOS Institute’s Certified Release of Information Specialist (CRIS) competency program which tests ROI staff knowledge in protecting the confidentiality of patients’ PHI; and continually works to educate the industry on how to remain in compliance with healthcare’s complex and ever-increasing regulatory environment. For more information, visit us at www.AHIOS.org and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
