We blogged on this back in early May, but compliance with individuals’ rights to access their PHI under HIPAA is even more critical now that OCR has announced that its current HIPAA audits will focus on an audited Covered Entity’s documentation and process related to these access rights.

In an email sent to listserv participants on July 12, 2016 from OCR-SECURITY-LIST@LIST.NIH.GOV, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) included the following list of areas of focus for the desk audits:

Requirements Selected for Desk Audit Review
Privacy Rule
Notice of Privacy Practices & Content Requirements  [§164.520(a)(1) & (b)(1)]
Provision of Notice – Electronic Notice   [§164.520(c)(3)]
Right to Access  [§164.524(a)(1), (b)(1), (b)(2), (c)(2), (c)(3), (c)(4), (d)(1), (d)(3)]
Breach Notification Rule
Timeliness of Notification  [§164.404(b)]
Content of Notification  [§164.404(c)(1)]
Security Rule
Security Management Process —  Risk Analysis  [§164.308(a)(1)(ii)(A)]
Security Management Process — Risk Management  [§164.308(a)(1)(ii)(B)]

As discussed in our prior post, HHS issued guidance regarding individuals’ rights to access PHI earlier this year. Here is a link to this PHI access guidance:  Individuals’ Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information | HHS.gov

The HHS access guidance stresses that Covered Entities should provide individuals with “easy access” to their PHI and cannot impose “unreasonable measures” on the individuals with respect to this right to access. The HHS access guidance provides important information regarding the different rules that apply when an individual provides a signed authorization for release of their PHI versus when an individual is really making a request for access to his or her PHI.

If an individual is asking for the PHI to be provided to him or her, this is really a request for access even if the individual is providing a signed authorization for release of the PHI.

If the individual is asking the PHI to be directed to a third party, this can be either a situation when a signed authorization is needed or can be an access request, depending on who is really originating the request (the individual or the third party). A Covered Entity cannot require an individual to provide a signed authorization to make an access request.  A Covered Entity can require that the access request be in writing and can require use of a form as long as it does not impose undue burden on the individual’s right to access.

The HHS access guidance also indicates that if an individual requests that his or her PHI be provided by email, the Covered Entity is required to do so and further, if the individual requests in writing that the PHI be provided by unsecure, unencrypted email, the Covered Entity is required to do so after notifying the individual in writing of the risks of this method of transmission. (This notice can be included on the access request form.)

As a result of the HHS access guidance, a Covered Entity may need to review and amend its HIPAA Privacy Policies and Procedures governing individual rights with respect to access to PHI, the form it uses for individual access requests, and its employee training protocols to be sure employees aren’t requiring a patient  (or member, in the case of a health plan Covered Entity) to sign an authorization form when the patient is requesting access to PHI.