All About the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (1 ML)

Title: All About the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy

Presenter: Georgia Green, MBA, MEd, RHIA, CCS, CPC, CHDS, AHDI-F 

Original Date: April 2,2025

Length: 1 hour

CEC: 1 Medicolegal (ML)

Cost: $5 Student Members/$15 Members/$25 List Price

Session Description: 

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in the Dobbs decision on June 24, 2022, with wide-reaching impacts for reproductive health care beyond access to abortion. This decision and the evolving response at the state level dramatically increases the likelihood that protected health information (PHI) will be disclosed in ways that interfere with HIPAA protections, undermining the trust patients must have in health care providers and in the health care system overall. This will undermine both access to healthcare and the quality of care a patient is able to receive.

The HIPAA 2024 Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy amends certain provisions of the Privacy Rule for the purpose of strengthening the privacy of reproductive health care by establishing minimum protections against criminal or civil penalties against individuals who obtain reproductive health care lawfully. 

This presentation will provide the details of this Final Rule, its implementation timeline (compliance date was December 23, 2024), and the impact on patients, on HIPAA-covered entities, and on third parties seeking protected health information that may include reproductive care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the legislative landscape that led to the 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy.
2. Name the four national priority purposes that allow PHI to be disclosed without patient authorization that are impacted by this legislation.
3. Describe the impact of the Final Rule on patients, on covered entities, and on third parties requesting PHI.