Feds go slowly on enforcing HIPAA: 'informal persuasion'.(News)

SAN ANTONIO -- After 3 months of required compliance for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, it appears that physicians are erring on the side of caution while the government continues to err on the side of gentle reminders.

That's the assessment of Brian D. Cradle, a lawyer specializing in health law in Washington. He gave his assessment of HIPAA's first quarter of compliance at the annual meeting of the American Health Lawyers Association.

"Informal persuasion" has been the buzzword at the Department of Health and Human Services as it wades into the uncertain waters of protecting patient privacy, Mr. Gradle said. In fact, out of approximately 600 complaints filed under the law so far, about 20% have been resolved with a telephone call from HHS, either reminding the health care organization of the rules or determining that the complaint did not constitute a violation.

The complaints thus far have fallen into four categories: patients not receiving proper notice about a practice's privacy policies, improper access to records, structural setup of the physical records, and health care workers whistle-blowing on their employers. So far, Mr. Gradle said, the government has not initiated a formal procedure for any of these complaints.

"The emphasis really is on compliance," Mr. Gradle told this newspaper. "The government really is saying, we understand this is complicated and what we want to see is a good-faith effort to comply."

Mr. Gradle said that this means several things for physicians:

* If a patient or employee complains to you, address the problem before he or she feels compelled to go to the government. "Stay off the government's radar screen," he advised.