Amid the sweltering summer blizzard of last week’s MU finalization, the VCS BlogMasters lost sight of the earlier, July 7, announcement by CMS and ONC that “current health information privacy and security rules will now include broader individual rights and stronger protections when third parties handle individually identifiable health information.”

So, here’s the delayed scoop (if that’s even possible!):

These measures expand and strengthen privacy, security, and enforcement rules of HIPAA ’96.

“Giving more Americans the ability to access their health information wherever, whenever and in whatever form is a critical first step toward improving our health care system,” said David Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.P., HHS’ national coordinator for health information technology,

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius added, “While health information technology will help America move its health care system forward, the privacy and security of personal health data is at the core of all our work.”

The full press release can be found here: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/07/20100708c.html

In a related matter, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed and sold a role-based-workflow (RBW) security application that restricts access to patient information based on a situational need. NIST sold the patent.

NIST’s press release can be found here: http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/health_070610.cfm

Both developments bode well for VCS clients. Ensuring privacy while improving workflow has posed a challenging solution for most HIT vendors even as medical record privacy has been a salient concern for most patients.