Final answer:
The Omnibus Rule was adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to carry out the requirements of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which aimed to promote the use of health information technology and strengthen privacy and security protections for health information.
Step-by-step explanation:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopted the Omnibus Rule to implement provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
The Omnibus Rule enhances the privacy and security protections for individual health information established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and addresses the enforcement of these protections. The HITECH Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, aimed to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology.
The HITECH Act also extended the requirements of HIPAA, particularly in relation to electronic protected health information (ePHI), to business associates of covered entities. Penalties for non-compliance were strengthened, and the Act encouraged the reporting of breaches affecting health information.
The adoption of the Omnibus Rule was a significant step in ensuring patient privacy and the security of health records, particularly in an age where digital health records are becoming more prevalent.