DirectTrust submitted a Comment Letter to the Office of Civil Rights regarding the “minimum necessary” standard under HIPAA for Public Health Reporting while in a pandemic.
In the heat of the COVID-19 crisis there have been calls to explicitly provide a temporary safe harbor to provider organizations that disclose the 2015 Edition C-CDA to Public Health Authorities, even where such disclosures are not required by statute, providing that the C-CDA meets the “minimum necessary” standard under HIPAA.
At DirectTrust, we agree this crisis requires swift action and health systems should share information that is appropriate for public health authorities during this emergency, without concern about regulatory penalties for sharing needed information. We propose provider organizations should continue to consider the minimum necessary standard when disclosing to public health, but that the OCR should use its enforcement discretion with regard to minimum necessary requirements, for the period of the crisis, for health systems that disclose 2015 edition C-CDAs to public health authorities where this is needed for expedited communication of COVID-19 related health information.
Launch the full Comment Letter from the button below.