In situations of medical complexity, who has access to information about an older adult's health information – including mental health and substance use history and treatment – can be a complicated issue. In this virtual training, a complex older adult health situation was presented. The legal issues related to the privacy of protected health information were reviewed by Jacqueline Seitz, JD, and Christine Khaikin, JD from the SAMHSA-funded Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information (CoE-PHI). Dr. Rebecca Allen discussed ethical issues inherent in the case, highlighting common issues in meeting the needs of older adults while assuring that the right people have the right information. A broader discussion of these issues were lead by  the E4 Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Disparities in aging.

Objectives:

Describe when and how the federal privacy laws apply to the Protected Health Information (PHI) of Older Adults
Identify ethical considerations related to PHI, autonomy, and paternalism
Recognize how to access resources and technical assistance through the E4 Center and the CoE-PHI

New guidelines from SAMHSA released in July 2020 are designed to improve coordination of care for patients in treatment for substance disorder, while protecting confidentiality against unauthorized disclosure and use of patient information. View this HITEQ webinar on changes to SAMHSA’s 42 CFR Part 2 rule (Part 2) which protects individuals receiving substance use disorder treatment by defining privacy and security requirements for written, electronic and verbal information. This webinar features expert presenters from the University of New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice and the Center of Excellence for Protected Health Information who present on the new final Part 2 rule and future changes in the CARES Act, including what has changed, what has not changed, what this means for health centers in regard to consents and disclosures, and the implications for care coordination. This presentation also addresses privacy considerations for tele-behavioral health and exceptions during the state of emergency waiver.

Patient privacy and confidentiality form a crucial component of the patient-doctor treatment relationship, particularly when seeking treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. Multiple federal privacy laws, in addition to state laws, provide privacy protections for mental health and substance use disorder treatment records, while permitting communication of these records to other healthcare providers, patients’ families, and others.

In the face of these overlapping laws, it can be difficult for patients, their families, and health professionals to understand: What exact information can be shared, with whom, and at what times? This resource aims to assist with these determinations.

Health centers are actively expanding the substance use treatment services they offer in the community to address access to care for opioid use disorders, and more broadly to address better screening, referral and timely access to all substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. The downloadable case study below is an example of how a health center is assessing operations to comply with 42 CFR Part 2, with a particular focus on changes to their health information technology (IT) systems.

HHS has developed materials to help clarify how clinicians can use telemedicine as a tool to expand buprenorphine-based MAT for opioid use disorder treatment.

The September webinar entitled “Linking & Merging Data Sources” will discuss merging Substance Use Disorder (SUD) related data sources with other state databases. Specifically, it will discuss how using  different data sources can provide additional insight on a patient’s  continuum of care when services are paid for by Medicaid and other state agencies. There will be three featured state partners on the webinar panel to discuss their efforts to actively link or merge data and field your questions. 

On this webinar:

• Connecticut will discuss how it is using distributed data networks to answer questions about their SUD population demographics, care outcomes and costs;
• Washington will discuss how it has designed meaningful measurement concepts that enable policy analyses, program evaluations, predictive modeling and performance management; and
• Oregon will share how it developed a system to combine SUD  block grant  data with  Medicaid claims data to analyze treatment outcomes  and share information with providers.