A bipartisan group of senators sent an open letter to the Department of Health and Human Services Feb. 14, asking the agency to adjust a proposed addiction treatment privacy rule intended to prevent opioids from being prescribed to patients in recovery.
The rule is aimed at a segment of federal law, 42 CFR part 2, which mandates strict patient record confidentiality for those struggling with addiction. Behavioral health providers and others in the field have said 42 CFR part 2 also increases administrative load and may be partially to blame for low EHR adoption in the industry.
The group, Senators Shelly Moore Capito, Joe Manchin, Jeff Merkley, Amy Klobuchar and Susan Collins, said they were pleased to see alignment with HIPAA in the proposed rule, but still had "concerns regarding ensuring there is clarity to reduce administrative burden and prevent unnecessary data segmentation."
"We hope that with some additional clarity, we will be able to meet the goals of reducing administrative burdens and ensuring certain providers will be able to share information confidently," the senators said in the letter.