HiTech Act in Plain Language

October 15, 2009

With the passage of the stimulus package last February, the Health INformation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act made some changes affecting both medical providers and their Business Associates (BA) with regard to HIPAA regulations. As The original language two of the major changes impacting the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules.

The most significant change in the rules is that the BA is now held liable for many HIPAA violations in the same way that Providers have been in the past. BAs were not statutorily liable under the old rules, but rather were restricted as to the use and disclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) by the individual agreements made with Providers.