Sharing of Addiction Treatment Records Gets Biden HHS Overhaul

Drug addiction treatment records will face fewer barriers to sharing among medical professionals under a new rule issued Thursday by the Biden administrations’ Health and Human Services Department.

Required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the rule (RIN: 0945-AA16) is intended to help medical professionals better coordinate care for individuals struggling with substance use. Under the rule, medical professionals can share a patient’s substance use treatment records after a one-time consent.

The move aligns the more strict substance use record requirements with standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA.

“The Final Rule strengthens confidentiality protections while improving care coordination for patients and providers,” Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, said in a statement. “Patients can seek needed treatment and care for substance use disorder knowing that greater protections are in place to keep their records private, and providers can now better share information to improve patient care.”

Loosened record sharing has spurred debate among experts in the addiction space. There are concerns over whether treatment records could fall into the wrong hands, compromising things like child custody and employment for individuals struggling with substance use disorder.

“People who are struggling with substance use disorders must have the same ability to keep their information private as anyone else,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “This new rule helps to ensure that happens, by strengthening confidentiality protections and improving the integration of behavioral health with other medical records.”