The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) and Kuma’s Jenn Behrens, recently partnered to present this informative webinar to the SHIEC Behavioral Health Learning Cooperative. This part one of a two-part webinar series looks closely at the federal and state laws that require advanced and specific consent mechanisms for sharing behavioral health, mental health, and substance use disorder information.
To understand privacy compliance and consent, it’s important to first understand the mental health landscape and the layers of regulations protecting patient health information. This webinar will help you understand what types of health data are protected, under which legislation, and how to navigate its complexity. Some things you will learn:
Mental Health Landscape Basics
- What constitutes a co-occurring condition, why it’s common in mental health care
- Clarity of interchangeable mental health terms
- The different types of sensitive, protected data
- Types of legislation, the data they protect, and the level of protection they dictate
Sharing Sensitive Data and Consent
- How this data can be shared
- Consent options and their differences
- What is a qualified health organization, its associated agreement and how does it enable sharing?
- The impact of state regulations
Security And Privacy: Things to Consider
- The role of privacy vs. the role of security
- HIPAA risk analysis
- The risk with national and multi-state HIEs
- Consent models and minimizing complications
- Participant agreements
- The importance of working with your state attorney general
Wherever you are on the path to health data sharing, addressing consent for sharing substance abuse disorder information is an inevitable part of that path. Part two in this series took place on October 25 and took a deeper dive into consent. Stay tuned for a briefing of that webinar in the very near future.
Disclaimer: This webinar does not offer legal advice and we encourage you to always check with your current counsel and get to know your specific state and local regulations and how they may interact with how your organization needs to govern the exchange of data.
Download the full webinar transcript.
Learn more about our HIE services.
The Kuma Difference
Health Information Exchanges must meet highly regulated privacy and security requirements and may not have the resources to go it alone. Kuma can help you with all your needs from the complexities of consent to HIPAA compliance to establishing a long-term program that ensures compliance today and in the future. We ensure you have access to senior level resources and confidence through our forward-thinking approach.
Request a consultation with a Kuma team member today.
About Jenn Behrens
Jenn started her career in social work as a foster care social worker. For over a decade, she moved through and up local departments of social services and landed at the state level where she oversaw the Information Management System. Through her journey there, she started understanding research implications, data sharing implications, as well as the designs that go into building the systems that contain raw data about very vulnerable populations. She had to opportunity to jump from social service to work on a cybersecurity initiative out of NIST and from there, she took on the task of managing privacy – an area misunderstood throughout the industry. This led her to the world of security, privacy, and digital identity – and with that her first pilot which was about sharing information with a healthcare organization. At Kuma, she continues her work in security and privacy consulting services and with that, applies her original passion for healthcare to working with clients to integrate best practices into their organization.
