The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology teamed up to develop 3 models for Notice of Privacy Practices for health care providers to utilize to communicate with their residents maintain HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA gives residents the fundamental right to know what a health care providers privacy practices are and to be informed of just what their privacy rights are when it comes to their personal health information. Because of this health care providers are required to develop and distribute a Notice of Privacy Practices. The Notice must describe how the provider ensures that the residents privacy is protected and their rights under HIPAA. The Notice has to be made available to anyone who asks to see it and it must be prominently posted on any website maintained by the health care provider.

OCR and ONC developed the three models after receiving feedback from many entities asking for guidance on how to develop a notice that their residents and patients can understand. The models also reflect recent HIPAA regulatory changes in the Omnibus Rule. The options are:

  • Notice in the form of a booklet;
  • A layered notice with a summary of the information on the first page and then the full content on the following pages;
  • A notice with the design elements in the booklet but in a full page presentation;
  • A text only version of the notice.

The models are fully customizable so that the health care provider can enter their own information into the model. Instructions for what information is to be included are also provided.

Links to the models may be found at: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/model-notices-privacy-practices/index.html

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