ADA Urges HHS to Withdraw Proposed HIPAA Cybersecurity Rule

I've been making a fair number of posts lately about the ADA.  Simply put, it's because the ADA has made a concerted effort in the last year to provide better communication with its members.  Combined with the fact that the ADA has also been providing better information in the last year, I've been making more posts about them because I feel it's information that's important to get on your radar.

The ADA is a large organization and like most large organizations, they can move at a snail's pace in making changes.  They also do somethings that I disagree with.  I bring this up because I don't want my readers to think I'm an ADA cheerleader and simply putting out whatever they send.

Now, with that being said, I do like the ADA.  I think they do some incredibly good things for the profession.  But the biggest reason I'm a member is because our profession needs a voice that speaks for us.  One of the best things the ADA does is lobby for us, especially on the federal level.  If we don't have that recognized and unified front with our congress,, laws will be passed that can change our profession in ways that drive up our costs or force dentistry to take on onerous tasks.

I know it's common for dentists to say "What does the ADA do for me?" when discussing why they are not a member.  My answer to that is first and foremost, because they lobby for us.  The work that goes on behind the scenes in this effort is often not publicized, but it happens a lot.  Today's post is about the ADA standing up with others to oppose changes to the HIPPA laws that every office deals with.

The ADA is part of a broad coalition of national health care organizations that recently sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , calling on the department to withdraw a proposed update to the HIPAA Security Rule and restart the process with greater collaboration from provider groups.

Here's a snippet of the story:

The Dec. 8 coalition letter was in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, titled “HIPAA Security Rule To Strengthen the Cybersecurity of Electronic Protected Health Information.” Originally advanced during the previous administration, the proposal would establish new cybersecurity requirements for regulated health care entities. The coalition said the rule should be immediately withdrawn “without further consideration.”

If you'd like to read the entire story from the ADA News, here's the link.

If you'd like to read the letter that was sent to Secretary Kennedy, you can find it here.