HHS to reassess medical privacy rules

The Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday that it is opening the medical privacy rules issued in the last month of the Clinton administration to a 30-day public comment period to assess whether changes are needed to the rules, which apply to the way doctors, hospitals and health insurers handle almost all personal information. The rules currently are scheduled to take effect April 14, but health care providers do not need to comply with them until February 2003. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said the new comment period will allow the department "to ensure that the provisions of this final rule will indeed work as intended throughout the complex field of health care, without creating unanticipated consequences that might harm patients' access to care or the quality of that care." "I believe we can protect patient privacy," Thompson continued. He also said the administration is "absolutely committed" to ensuring patients that the "privacy of their medical records is secure and that this information is used appropriately." The 30-day period will begin as soon as a notice is published in the Federal Register, which could happen as soon as Monday, said a department spokesman. Although the rules originally were scheduled to take effect Feb. 26, they could not because the Clinton administration failed to forward the rules to the General Accounting Office at the same time they were published in the Federal Register. The department sent them to the GAO on Feb. 13, creating a new effective date of April 14. In his Friday statement, Thompson said the oversight created an opportunity for comment. At the end of the 30-day comment period, the department expects to decide whether fundamental changes are needed - possibly delaying the regulation. If only small changes are needed, Thompson still could keep the same compliance date. "If the Bush administration tries to reopen every issue in the rule, it will likely take years" to reevaluate it, said Peter Swire, who was Clinton's chief privacy counselor and is now a law professor at Ohio State University. "It took a team of 70 people working for a full year to reply to the comments on the proposed rule. The only way the rule can get out is if the new administration makes it a major priority to act quickly."