Despite division along party lines and industry pushback, the House of Representatives has passed legislation (H.R. 3), the “Lower Drug Costs Now Act”, which would require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to establish a “Fair Price Negotiation Program” responsible for negotiating Medicare payments for some of the most expensive drugs available to Medicare beneficiaries.
Read MoreOn January 2, 2018, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (“SAMHSA”) issued a Final Rule, amending 42 C.F.R Part 2 (“Part 2”), creating new changes to the federal rules governing confidentiality and disclosures of patient substance use disorder (“SUD”) records for the first time since 1987. Part 2 protects the confidentiality of SUD records, which are subset of protected health information (PHI). This means that these records are subject to HIPAA, but are also protected by Part 2, which contains additional (and more stringent) federal protections. These overlapping standards can make the storage and disclosure of patient records administratively burdensome for healthcare providers, patients and their families. It is also a challenge for technology companies that store, analyze, and transmit patient records on behalf of providers and patients.
Read MoreOn February 5, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell, announced a proposed rule that would update privacy rules regarding substance abuse records--for the first time since 1987. This proposed rule has the potential to ease barriers to streamlined and efficient exchange of patient information across the care spectrum.
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