New ?HIPAA Compliance Manual for Small Mental Health Practices in New York State, Third Edition - 2010? just written by Bruce V. Hillowe J.D., Ph.D. To New York State Mental Health Practitioners: We published and distributed to clients HIPAA Manuals in 2003, and again, a second edition, in 2007. Pursuant to the federal HITECH legislation of 2009, new HIPAA Rules take effect in 2010 that mandate changes in the Notice of Privacy Practices, Policies and Procedures Handbooks and Business Associate Agreements, and new breach notification procedures, among others. Relatedly, the FTC has a new "Red Flags Rule" to prevent identity theft, and New York State has changed its record access denial forms and now has its own breach notification law. Certain of the recommended means to comply with the HIPAA Rules have also changed. Our office has now published (June 2010) a new "HIPAA Compliance Manual for Small Mental Health Practices in New York State, Third Edition 2010." It has all of the instructions and forms needed for current compliance with the HIPAA Rules and related laws and is designed especially for small mental health practices, those of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, mental health counselors, nurse practitioners-psychiatry, marriage and family therapists, creative arts therapists and psychoanalysts. The new edition of the Manual contains 14 new pages (a total of 102), 4 new forms (a total of 21), and numerous textual changes. As with prior editions, we have tried to make it the most accurate, simple, and cost-effective compliance program possible. The Manual also contains Supplements with Psychotherapy Record-Keeping forms and Informed Consent Forms. To allow you to customize all forms for your office, the new Manual includes a CD-ROM (Word file) containing the entire Manual and all forms. Even practitioners who are not HIPAA compliant will find much of the information and many of the forms useful. HIPAA has established new standards of care for the privacy and security of patient health information, including in electronic format, that are relevant for all practitioners.