Resources for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Bioterrorism Surveillance and Privacy: Intersection of HIPAA, the Common Rule, and Public Health Law

www.redorbit.com

Governing the flow of protected health information between research organizations and public health surveillance organizations creates many questions concerning each party's legal and ethical responsibilities, particularly in a suspected epidemic. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as well as the Common Rule, which promulgates rules for protecting study participants in federally sponsored research programs, provide regulations safeguarding protected health information. Both HIPAA and the Common Rule are focused toward the individual and mandate compliance nationwide. Public health law, however, is focused on the well-being and safety of the entire population. Unlike HIPAA, public health law is legislated by individual states rather than by the federal government and has no unifying mechanism for balancing privacy rights against public safety. The proper interaction between and appropriate application of HIPAA, the Common Rule, and public health law during a suspected epidemic is unclear.

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