Chapter 5

HITECH Regulations

• HITECH background
• Business associates
• Breach notification
• Penalties
• Accounting of disclosures
• Minimum necessary for information access
• Marketing and sale of PHI
• How HITECH affects different CE scenarios
• Nation Health Information Network
• Personal health records

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. The part we will cover in this chapter addresses the privacy and security of patient data, business associate agreement changes, and more. Remember that each subtitle within HITECH can be a financial windfall for you and your business. Pay attention, though, because the penalties for noncompliance have increased to $1.5 million—and jail time. Significantly, changes in the penalties associated with losing protected health information (PHI) increase the likelihood of ....