The Definition of National Coordinator

This posting is one of several that outline the HITECH privacy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday, February 17, 2009, in Denver, CO. Here, we reproduce the definitions that appear in Subtitle D—Privacy, Section 13400. Definitions, that appear in the Conference Report on page H1345 of Congressional Record—House, February 12, 2009. These definitions are critical in understanding the content of the new HITECH privacy provisions and how they relate to existing HIPAA Administrative Simplification Privacy Rule standards.

HIPAA Privacy Definitions:

Breach Business Associate Covered Entity Disclosure Electronic Health Record Health Care Operations

Health Care Provider Health Plan National Coordinator Payment Personal Health Record Protected Health Information

Secretary Security State Treatment Use Vendor Of Personal Health Records

NATIONAL COORDINATOR

The term ‘national coordinator’ means the head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology established under section 3001(a) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 13101.⁴

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⁴ This position is defined in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. See pp. H1337-H1338 of Congressional Record-House, February 12, 2009, which is available on the hipaa.com Web site.