Phillips Lytle LLP Attorneys William P. Keefer and Lisa McDougall Co-Author The New York State Physician’s HIPAA Privacy Manual, Second Edition

PHILLIPS LYTLE LLP ATTORNEYS WILLIAM P. KEEFER AND LISA MCDOUGALL CO-AUTHOR THE NEW YORK STATE PHYSICIAN’S HIPAA PRIVACY MANUAL, SECOND EDITION

Buffalo, N.Y. – Phillips Lytle Partner, William P. Keefer, and Counsel, Lisa McDougall, have co-authored The New York State Physician’s HIPAA Privacy Manual, Second Edition (“Manual”). Co-sponsored by the New York State Bar Association’s Health Law Section and the Committee on Continuing Legal Education, the Manual is designed to be a hands-on tool for health care providers as well as their legal counsel. It is now available to New York State physicians’ offices and counsel.

Containing 37 policies and procedures and the forms necessary to implement those policies and procedures, the Manual provides the day-to-day guidance necessary to allow the physician’s office to respond to routine, everyday inquiries about protected health information, as well as the framework to enable the Privacy Officer and health care provider’s counsel to properly respond to even non-routine issues. The Manual is organized in a way that parallels the various aspects of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and covers areas that include General Policies, Uses and Disclosures of Medical Information Without Patient Authorization, and Operational Issues and Patient Rights.

The second edition incorporates changes required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act and the most recent regulations. Changes of particular note include breach notification and new rules that directly require compliance from business associates.

As leader of Phillips Lytle’s Health Law Practice Team, Mr. Keefer counsels hospitals, physician groups and other health care clients on a broad array of issues, including fraud and abuse, corporate compliance, transactional arrangements, payer audits, agency actions, and federal and state court litigation.

Ms. McDougall focuses her practice on health care matters, including compliance issues, fraud and abuse, HIPAA, advance planning directives and end-of-life decision making, information management, and “e-health.” She also advises clients on related matters such as responding to subpoenas, search warrants and investigations, privacy, reimbursement, contracts, and patient care issues. Ms. McDougall has represented a wide variety of health care professionals, including individual health care practitioners, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and non-profit organizations in a variety of health care matters