Privacy of health information after Dobbs: OCR guidance on disclosures of PHI and the privacy of personal information on devices

Lexology July 14, 2022
K&L Gates LLP

On 28 June 2022, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra directed the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) within HHS to ensure patient privacy and nondiscrimination for patients seeking reproductive health care, as well as for providers who offer reproductive health care.¹ In response, on 29 June 2022, OCR issued new guidance addressing privacy rights related to reproductive health care under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).²

OCR’s guidance consists of two posts under a new Special Topic, HIPAA and Reproductive Health. The first guidance reiterates that federal law protects Protected Health Information (PHI)...

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