This slide deck provides health centers with information and a presentation template overview of the HIPAA and electronic PHI risks related to texting and messaging that are important for health center leadership and IT managers to understand in making organizational decisions for these types of tools.

We are adding additional telehealth policy information relevant to coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic as it impacts health centers as it becomes available.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Fact Sheets regarding the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations. 

Two fact sheets include: 

• Disclosure of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records: Does Part 2 Apply to Me?
  • This fact sheet explains a 42 CFR Part 2 Program and how healthcare providers can determine how Part 2 applies to them.
• Disclosure of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records: How Do I Exchange Part 2 Data?
  • This fact sheet describes how 42 CFR Part 2 applies to the electronic exchange of healthcare records with a Part 2 Program.

FAQs about Applying the Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations, answers provided by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

General cybersecurity guidance would suggest that Health IT breach should not be considered a matter of “if”, but rather a matter of “when”. How Health Centers prepare and respond to an episode of a breach is just as important as defending itself from the breach.

This is a recent presentation by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Health IT effort that provides an overview of their Consent2Share project. Consent2Share is a tool for consent management and data segmentation that is designed to integrate within existing electronic health record (EHR) and Health Information Exchange (HIE) systems.

This overview is provided to health center leadership and staff to help them better understand new practices and technologies in the field that can assist in compliance with HIPAA 42 CFR Part 2 regulations when trying to participate in health information exchange activities.

Conducting or reviewing a security risk analysis to meet the standards of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule is included in the meaningful use requirements of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.

This article from Optum provides a breakdown on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy considerations based on the mix of devices your organization is trying to support, the size of your healthcare organization and implementation factors that may have an impact on success.

New guidelines from SAMHSA released in July 2020 are designed to improve coordination of care for patients in treatment for substance disorder, while protecting confidentiality against unauthorized disclosure and use of patient information. View this HITEQ webinar on changes to SAMHSA’s 42 CFR Part 2 rule (Part 2) which protects individuals receiving substance use disorder treatment by defining privacy and security requirements for written, electronic and verbal information. This webinar features expert presenters from the University of New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice and the Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information who present on the new final Part 2 rule and future changes in the CARES Act, including what has changed, what has not changed, what this means for health centers in regard to consents and disclosures, and the implications for care coordination. This presentation also addresses privacy considerations for tele-behavioral health and exceptions during the state of emergency waiver.

A Health Center’s online reputation plays an ever-growing role in client satisfaction, as 6 out of 10 patients use online patient reviews before selecting a physician. This webinar and related handouts recommend three specific steps to managing your reputation online to improve patient engagement.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) 21st Century Cures Act Information Blocking Rule (Info Blocking Rule) prohibits covered actors – including health care providers, health IT developers of certified health IT, and health information exchanges/health information networks– from engaging in practices likely to interfere with, prevent, or materially discourage access, exchange, or use of electronic health information (EHI). The Info Blocking Rule includes eight exceptions that provide actors with certainty that, when their practice interferes with the access, exchange, or use of EHI and meets the conditions of one or more exception, such practice will not be considered information blocking. An actor’s practice that does not meet all the conditions of an exception will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine whether information blocking has occurred.