Court Upholds Use of TPO in HIPAA Privacy Case
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the use of personal health information (PHI) for use in treatment, payment, and operations (TPO) without consent as permitted in the HIPAA privacy regulations. The decision in the case Citizens for Health v. Leavitt (3d Cir., No. 04-2550) was handed down on October 31 and upheld a previous decision by the US District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania. Patient advocacy groups had argued that the HIPAA rules for release of PHI for these routine uses, without consent, violated First and Fifth Amendment rights of individuals. The courts decision can be found at http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/042550p.pdf.
*thanks to Lisa Woodley for passing on this item from the AHIMA Advantage e-alert.
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