Feds Release HIPAA ‘Omnibus Rule’

On January 17, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the final "Omnibus Rule" for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which seeks to strengthen privacy and security protections. The new rule is effective March 26, 2013. The final modifications were made to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules mandated by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which was originally issued on July 14, 2010. The modifications to the rule do the following: Make business associates of covered entities directly liable . . .