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For Immediate Release
Contact: Mary Mayhew, 207-622-4794
Maine hospitals implement new federal privacy rules
AUGUSTA,
ME, April 14, 2003 - New federal regulations take effect today
which clarify how patients' health care information can be used
and must be protected.
The
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy
regulations spell out how hospitals, physicians and other health
care providers can use patient information in caring for patients,
in billing patients and their health plans, and in quality assurance
and other activities. The regulations also give patients the right
to know how their health information is being used and to ask
for restrictions on that use.
The
new federal regulations will have a more subtle effect on health
care operations in Maine due to a state law governing patient
privacy regarding health information that went into effect in
1999.
As
of today, patients will be asked to acknowledge that they received
a copy of the hospital's Notice of Privacy Practices. Hospitals
are allowed to release certain basic information including a brief
description of the patient and location unless the patient has
expressly indicated they do not want to be listed in the directory.
"Health
care is intensely personal" said Steven Michaud, president of
the Maine Hospital Association, "and HIPAA will add to the protections
already in place in Maine hospitals to protect patient information."
Michaud
said that hospitals have worked hard to implement the new federal
regulation but that most of these efforts have taken place behind
the scenes in maintaining the security of computer systems and
access to medical files. "The most noticeable change will be additional
paperwork like the Notice of Privacy Practices that each hospital
patient will need to review and sign.
If
patients have questions about privacy protections regarding their
health information, they should contact their hospital or the
MHA.
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