The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced that it will host an in-person workshop to address and collect stakeholders’ views regarding how to best implement the Privacy Rule’s current requirements for the de-identification of protected health information (“PHI”). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”) requires HHS, in consultation with stakeholders, to issue guidance on methods for de-identifying PHI. The workshop, which will consist of multiple panel sessions, is open to the public and will be held on March 8-9 in Washington, DC. Following the workshop, HHS will synthesize the input it receives from the workshop and general comments, and issue guidance on its Web site for public comment.
The deadline to register for the workshop is March 1, 2010. Additional details about the workshop can be found on HHS’ Health Information Privacy Web site.