What are the Latest HIPAA Updates and HIPAA Changes in 2023? Important Things Providers & Patients Need to Know
Significant updates and changes in HIPAA are long overdue. But, initiatives were finally taken in December 2020, when the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entailing detailed proposed changes to the HIPAA Privacy rule.
The final rule is now due and is likely to take effect in 2023. The proposed HIPAA changes are to improve patient access to PHI, facilitate data sharing, and reduce the administrative burden on HIPAA-governed entities. The Expected Updates and Changes to HIPAA in 2023
The Office for Civil Rights and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in November 2022 , proposing the new HIPAA changes.
The new HIPAA updates and changes likely to be implemented in 2023 talk about protecting patient privacy and records related to treatment for substance use disorder (SUD). Due to their sensitivity, SUD records will be handled carefully to provide greater protection. The proposed changes intend to ease the complexity of compliance with HIPAA.
The Key HIPAA Changes Proposed in 2023
HIPAA Compliance is evolving, and the newest updates to the HIPAA Privacy Rule are set to take effect in 2023. HIPAA 2023 updates and changes are just not about the official rules that have changed; it’s also about the approach to compliance.
The major change healthcare providers can expect to see in 2023 is an expansion of patient rights to data privacy under HIPAA. It is known that OCR has proposed several changes to the HIPAA regulations that give patients more control over their health records.
- For 2023, patients will have the right to access their health information and to direct that their health information can be shared with designated third parties. Healthcare providers will need to ensure that their policies comply with:
- Reduction in the maximum time to provide access to PHI to a patient from 30 days to 15 days.
- HIPAA-covered entities to inform individuals of their rights to obtain or direct copies of their PHI to third parties.
Besides, the responsibility of healthcare organizations must:
- Respond to requests.
- Verify the identity of parties requesting PHI.
- Adequately handle data with third parties.
- There will be single patient consent for all future uses and disclosures of SUD records for treatment, operations, and payment.
- Patients will be able to get an accounting of disclosures of their SUD records.
- HIPAA changes to take effect this year also includes cybersecurity as a top priority to prevent the rise of healthcare data breaches and theft.
Healthcare providers should start strategizing and taking proactive steps to comply with the latest HIPAA changes and updates.
