[Med-privacy] HIPAA complaints

[Peter Marshall]

*** NCHICA Asks OCR to Explain Its HIPAA Complaint Handling
     Procedures ***

The North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance 
(NCHICA) has asked the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to explain the 
procedures for how it handles HIPAA complaints as well as the 
notification method. In his letter to OCR, NCHICA's Executive Director 
Holt Anderson writes that since the HIPAA Privacy Rule mandates the 
designation of a Privacy Official, it would seem prudent to direct 
notifications of complaints to that individual.  NCHICA recommends OCR 
"facilitate a registration web site where a covered entity can register 
its individual 'agent or office for service' for notices or inquiries 
on a voluntary basis." The group believes that addressing its concerns 
will help provide "an audit trail of activities relating to the 
complaint as well as facilitating timely resolution of the matter."

Read the letter (PDF):
http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/newsarchives/2005/NCHICA-OCRletter.pdf