An important ingredient in ensuring compliance with the Privacy Rule is the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) responsibility to investigate complaints that the Rule has been violated and to follow up on other information regarding noncompliance.
397-Does HIPAA permit covered entities to disclose information to public officials responding to a public health emergency
Yes, The Rule recognizes that various agencies and public officials will need protected health information to deal effectively with a bioterrorism threat or emergency.
505-When does the Privacy Rule allow covered entities to disclose information to law enforcementThe Privacy Rule is balanced to protect an individual’s privacy while allowing important law enforcement functions to continue.
506-State public records laws, also known as open records or freedom of information laws, all provide for certain public access to government records. How does the HIPAA Privacy Rule relate to these state laws?
If a state agency is not a “covered entity”, as that term is defined at 45 CFR 160.103, it is not required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule and, thus, any disclosure of information by the state agency pursuant to its state public records law would not be subject to the Privacy Rule.
759-May a health plan disclose PHI to a state child support enforcement agencyThe Privacy Rule permits a health plan to respond to a request for information by a IV-D agency pursuant to a National Medical Support Notice (NMSN), as described below.