Final federal medical privacy rule released. (May mean more red tape for doctors).

WASHINGTON -- Under the federal rule governing the privacy of medical records, patients have renewed assurance that their personal medical information will be kept private, but doctors face more administrative hassles, according to Dr. Robert D. Greenberg, an expert on medical privacy issues.

The Department of Health and Human Services released the final version of the medical privacy rule last month. It is the culmination of many years' work by the administration to improve the efficiency of the health care system, as stipulated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. It has gone through many revisions.

The rule codifies the patient privacy protections that doctors have employed in-formally for years, said Dr. Greenberg, chairman of the American Academy of Dermatology's Health Care Delivery Committee. It also adds to the administrative costs of managing a practice: Now physicians must actively document that they are following the privacy rule, appoint a privacy officer, and have each patient acknowledge that they know what their privacy rights are under the new law.

The new rule says that patients must only acknowledge that they have been made aware of their privacy rights. They do not have to sign consent forms for the purposes of treatment, payment, or health care operations. The removal of the patient consent requirement for these purposes will make medical practice easier and facilitate patient access to care, said Dr. Greenberg, who practices in Vernon, Conn.

"The prior regulation, while well intentioned, would have forced sick or injured patients to run all around town getting signatures before they could get care or medicine," Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson said in a statement accompanying the final privacy ...