ENGLEWOOD, CO –The Medical Group Management Association is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw its proposed HIPAA “accounting of disclosures” rule, due to the burden it would put on practices to provide such a report – and the possibility that it might deter them from implementing new technology.

The accounting of disclosures regulation was mandated as part of the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act of 2009 (HITECH). If enacted as proposed, the rule would require medical practices that maintain electronic patient information to have the capability to produce a detailed report of every instance a patient’s information was accessed by any staff member for any reason, including submitting claims for payment.

MGMA is requesting that HHS engage with medical groups and other stakeholders to develop a consensus-driven solution before moving forward with the regulation.

MGMA conducted a Legislative and Executive Advocacy Response Network (LEARN) study to gauge the impact of this proposed rule on physician group practices. The study received one of the largest responses in LEARN history, with more than 1,400 participants.

The vast majority of survey participants condemned the rule as burdensome and unnecessary. More than 90 percent said it would be “very” or “extremely” burdensome to produce a report upon a patient’s request that would meet the strict government requirements. When asked how many patient requests for disclosure reports they had received in the past 12 months, 65.1 percent responded “0 or 1 per [full-time-equivalent] physician.”