This FAQ provides responses to the most frequently asked questions about coronavirus and privacy, especially COVID-19 testing, records, and health privacy for people in, or visiting, the U.S.
In response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced some changes in HIPAA practices. This statement from WPF includes the following information:
-What are the changes to HIPAA during the COVID-19 emergency?
-What are the privacy concerns?
-WPF recommendations to ensure patient privacy is protected
WPF is urging the National Institutes of Health to do more to properly advise the research community and to protect data subjects in its draft guidance on data management and sharing. WPF is asking for changes to the NIH guidance because in the US, much health research data in the hands of researchers is not subject to the privacy or security rules in HIPAA.
WPF Executive Director Pam Dixon will testify before the full committee of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) regarding emerging privacy concerns in the healthcare environment, including the role of artificial intelligence, patient authorizations, and automated access to patient health information. The NCVHS is the statutory [42 U.S.C. 242k(k)] public advisory body
The Office of Civil Rights in the US Department of Health and Human Services has taken its first enforcement action under the HIPAA right of patient access to health records. HHS announced that it fined a health care provider $85,000 for failing to provide health care records to a patient upon written request, stating in