Proposed HITECH Regulations Out in May?

Buried in a part of today's Federal Register was the publication of the Department of Health and Human Services' regulatory agenda. The agenda presents a forecast of expected HHS rulemaking activities and suggests that in May of this year HHS will issue the long-awaited proposed rules to modify the HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Enforcement Rules as necessary to implement the privacy, security, and certain enforcement provisions of the HITECH Act (see our earlier blog posts).

The Department is also scheduled to issue a final rule in May of this year, addressing the certification standards and implementation criteria for electronic health record technology.