Modern Healthcare (6/11, Robeznieks, Subscription Publication) reports that Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) “has introduced a new bill aimed at ending…privacy concerns” that make it impossible for mental health professionals “to share patients’ information with their family and caregivers even when it was in their best interest to do so.” The measure enjoys “the support of a wide spectrum of mental health advocacy groups” and the American Psychiatric Association.
The congresswoman “said that her bill will codify the content of a 2014 guidance (PDF) issued by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights without amending the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.” According to Modern Healthcare, APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, “in a letter to Matsui expressing the organization’s support of her bill, wrote that the Including Families in Mental Health Recovery Act facilitates family and caregiver assistance to individuals with mental illness.”
Related Links:
— “Bill aims to clarify mental health record-sharing under HIPAA,” Andis Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, June 10, 2015.