HHS has issued a prepublication copy of modifications to the HIPAA rule required by the HITECH Act and GINA, together with some additional modifications to HIPAA to enhance its workability and effectiveness. The official copy of the four final rules will be published on January 25th. In issuing the rules, HHS states that it is unable to give a complete cost/benefit analysis, because of the impossibility of monetizing individuals’ privacy and dignity. The final rules’ effective date is March 26, 2013, and full compliance by covered entities and business associates is required 180 days later (by September 23, 2013); HHS also emphasizes that in the future it will impose the 180-day compliance period for new or modified HIPAA standards. This rulemaking does not address either accounting for disclosures or the HITECH Act requirement to develop a methodology to distribute penalties to individuals harmed by HIPAA violation
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