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Becoming a Hybrid Entity: A Policy Option for Public Health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

Sallie Milam  and
Melissa Moorehead
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Abstract

When Congress passed HIPAA, it did not intend to constrain public health's data sharing in the same way as clinical or payers. In fact, HIPAA recognizes data sharing with public health as a matter of national priority and shields this function from its reach. However, a health department may offer services that bring it within HIPAA's purview, such as running a Children's Health Insurance Program or a laboratory that bills electronically. When this is the case, HIPAA requires all information and departments be subject to HIPAA unless the public health authority chooses to hybridize. Health departments might re-assess their coverage and elect to become a hybrid entity, thereby restricting HIPAA to only where required and removing barriers to information sharing with communities.

Type
Symposium Articles
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 47 , Issue S2: 2018 Public Health Law Conference: Health Justice: Empowering Public Health and Advancing Health Equity , Summer 2019 , pp. 68 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2019

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