Making sense of HIPAA Privacy: solutions for complex compliance dilemmas

This Article examines and proposes solutions for the following compliance problems under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act's Privacy Rule: (a) determining compliance requirements when multiple provisions of the Privacy Rule allow a use or disclosure of protected health information; (b) managing minimum necessary for disclosures to noncovered entities; (c) managing interaction between organized healthcare arrangements and noncovered providers; (d) processing joint health and life/disability insurance applications; (e) reconciling family coverage explanations of benefits and family member's confidential communication demands; and (f) explaining denial of protected health information access based on endangerment. In the course of the analysis, the Article presents a Privacy Rule Compliance Tool that summarizes the compliance requirements associated with each Privacy Rule provision that allows protected health information use or disclosure.     

法治的人生态度

法治作为现实的人的一种生活方式与生活式样 ,时刻与现实的人的当前生活与未来命运密切相关。作为现实的人的一种生活方式与秩序追求 ,它反映着现实的人的生活立场与人生态度。法治的人生态度的基本特色体现为悲观主义、保守主义、现实主义和个人主义。法治的人生态度与法治始终处于彼此塑造的双向互动之中     

Altered states: state health privacy laws and the impact of the Federal Health Privacy Rule

Although the Federal Health Privacy Rule has evened out some of the inconsistencies between states' health privacy laws, gaps in protection still remain. Furthermore, the Federal Rule contains some lax standards for the disclosure of health information. State laws can play a vital role in filling these gaps and strengthening the protections afforded health information. By enacting legislation that has higher privacy-protective standards than the Federal Health Privacy Rule, states can play three important roles. First, because they can directly regulate entities that are beyond HHS's mandate, states can afford their citizens a broader degree of privacy protection than the Federal Health Privacy Rule. Second, by having state health privacy laws, states can enforce privacy protections at the local level. Finally, action by the states can positively influence health privacy policies at the federal level by raising the standard as to what constitutes sufficient privacy protection. High privacy protections imposed by states may serve as the standard for comprehensive federal legislation, if and when Congress reconsiders the issue. So far, states' reactions to the Federal Privacy Rule have been mixed. Only time will tell whether states will assume the mantle of leadership on health privacy or relinquish their role as the primary protectors of health information.     

HIPAA privacy: the compliance challenges ahead

This Article reviews the HIPAA Privacy Standards' impact on healthcare organizations. It discusses whether a healthcare organization is a "Covered Entity" under the regulations, what information the Privacy Standards protect, what restrictions the regulations place on the use and disclosure of protected health information, what individual rights the Privacy Standards create, and what agreements they require between healthcare organizations and their business associates. The author provides relatively extensive guidance to organizations that are embarking upon their voyage of compliance with these broadly applicable regulations, but notes that the full extent of necessary compliance remains unclear, pending DHHS issuance of the next iteration of the rulemaking in this area. The Article was finalized in January 2002, before HHS issued any modifications to the Privacy Standards.     

论隐私、隐私权的概念和特征

本文着重论述隐私概念和特征、隐私权概念和特征、西方隐私权的新构成、以及隐私权和其他相关人格权的区别。采用比较分折的方法,论述了国外隐私权渊源及发展,探讨我国隐私权保护滞后的原因。并力图对隐私、隐私权作一个科学的界定。     

Privacy on the Internet

Privacy, the right to an inviolable private life, is one of the most valued and most fragile possessions in modern human society. According to only one of the best-known definitions, privacy is the right to be left alone; the right for every human being to enjoy a space protected by law from arbitrary encroachment, including that of the government. "Every unjustified violation of individual privacy by the state, whatever the means used, must be regarded as a violation of the Fourth Amendment [to the U.S. Constitution—S.S.]," as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis noted in his famous opinion on wiretapping.¹ Privacy is a fundamental human right, and it has been meticulously studied and analyzed. According to one classification scheme,² privacy can provisionally be divided into four types: privacy of personal data, physical privacy, territorial privacy, and the privacy of communications.     

Privacy and the precautionary principle

The precautionary principle – which implies that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing protective measures – has been adopted as a standard of environmental and health protection in international and European legislation. This article offers an overview of the precautionary principle as a legal standard applicable to European privacy and data protection legislation. For this reason, it takes particularly into account the guidelines of this legislation as well as the privacy impact assessment framework, raised by the European Commission through the Recommendation on Radio-Frequency Identification applications. In brief, the article stresses the role of the precautionary principle in improving privacy protection through liability, prudence and transparency.     

What litigators need to know about HIPAA

HIPAA's Privacy Regulations impose a number of new requirements on Covered Entities concerning disclosure of an individual's personal health information. This Article briefly outlines the primary function of HIPAA's general nondisclosure rule and discusses the exceptions under which HIPAA permits disclosure in the course of litigation or government investigations.