As much of the Southeastern U.S. continues to recover from the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, health care providers should be aware of, and consider the extent upon which they rely upon, the flexibilities that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended to assist with the Public Health Emergencies (PHEs) in the affected states. As a result of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, CMS extended additional resources to Medicare providers and certain health care facilities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
As background, during a PHE, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may temporarily waive certain HIPAA Privacy Rule requirements for hospitals.
During the recent PHE, HHS issued HIPAA-related waivers lasting up to seventy-two (72) hours to hospitals located in the declared emergency that had activated their disaster protocol, including waivers for: the distribution of HIPAA privacy notices; patient rights to request privacy restrictions and confidential communications; communications with family or friends involved in care; and, opting out of facility directories. Health Information Privacy PHE responses can be found here.
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Important Negotiating Points in Commercial Real Estate Purchase and Sale Contracts Negotiating the Letter of Intent
- 2025 Picks Up Steam with Increased Scrutiny of Health Care Transactions and Corporate Structures
- HHS Reverses Its Longstanding Policy and Limits Public Participation in Rulemaking
- Sitting Atop a Telehealth Cliff?
- A Regulatory Haze of Uncertainty Continues as the Clock Ticks Toward Phase One of FDA’s LDT Final Rule