[Genealib] Re: HIPAA and the NYC Department of Health Indexes

[Joy Rich]

Please see 
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.genealogy.jewish/browse_thread/thread/925f02d1c9024bd5?hl=en 
for additional information.

Joy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Joy Rich
To: Genealib
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: HIPAA and the NYC Department of Health Indexes

Here's an instance of HIPAA being misused by the New York City Department of Health.

As of April 8th, only "authorized personnel of the Department or its authorized agents,"
which means NOT US, is allowed into the record room at the New York City Department of
Health to search the printed indexes (that's the only format they're in).

The Notice of Adoption is on page 4 of
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/notice/article-3-adoption-June-2008.pdf under
section §3.25.

A "further discussion of its purpose and rationale," titled "§3.25 Inspection of records
and proceedings of the Department" is on page 13 of the Notice of Adoption. It says, in
part,

"Subdivision (e) of current §3.27, which currently allows access to the printed indexes of
vital statistics records, has been repealed in its entirety. The Department will no longer
make such indexes available, since such access can be abused and result in *identity
theft* and attendant *security risks*. In addition, genealogists and others interested in
genealogical research can access appropriate information from the Municipal Archives. [In
fact, the Municipal Archives only has birth indexes through 1909 and death indexes through
1948]. While these amendments reflect the policies and practices of the DOHMH, the amended
provisions also take into consideration the federal regulations promulgated pursuant to
the *Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act* (HIPAA). HIPAA represents the
federal privacy standard to protect patients' medical records and other health information
provided to health plans, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers."

Joy

Joy Rich
Chapter Representative, New York Metro Chapter http://www.apgen.org/chapters/newyork
Association of Professional Genealogists http://www.apgen.org