HHS Updates Guidance on HIPAA Protections for Patients with Behavioral Health Conditions

​​The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has released new and updated material addressing protections for individuals with behavioral health and substance use disorders under the privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). For example, OCR provides new fact sheets on HIPAA protections tailored to different audiences, such as parents of children with a behavioral health condition or substance use disorder and family and friends of an adult patient with a behavioral health condition.