HHS Issues Proposed Rule on Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records; Comments Due January 31
Published December 02, 2022
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in coordination with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), issued proposed rules to revise the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulations. The regulations at 42 CFR part 2 (“Part 2”) protect the confidentiality of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment records.
Section 3221 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act requires HHS to align certain aspects of Part 2 with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Rules and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, and requires HHS to update the HIPAA Privacy Rule Notice of Privacy Practices requirements to address Part 2 protections and individual rights.
Proposed changes include:
- Updated HIPAA Privacy Rule Notice of Privacy Practices requirements to address uses and disclosures of Part 2 records and individual rights with respect to those records.
- Notice of privacy practices for protected health information has an exception for group health plans that provide health benefits solely through an insurance contract with a health insurance issuer or HMO.
- Permitted use and disclosure of Part 2 records based on a single patient consent given once for all future uses and disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations.
- Permitted redisclosure of Part 2 records in any manner permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule, with certain exceptions.
- New patient rights under Part 2 to obtain an accounting of disclosures and to request restrictions on certain disclosures, as also granted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule.