FROM THE FOUNDATION

The Social Life of Health Information

A new Pew Internet/CHCF national survey finds the Internet has joined doctors and family members as one of the top three ways people search for answer to their health care questions.

Evaluating One-e-App

CHCF and The California Endowment funded the development of One-e-App, a Web-based program that enables users to apply for multiple public insurance programs at once. Read a business case assessment by The Lewin Group.

Privacy, Security, and the Stimulus Bill

The recently enacted economic stimulus legislation includes a number of improvements to federal health privacy law. This brief looks at issues of privacy and security in the wake of ARRA.

Policy

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Health Policy Adviser Says Health IT Bill Weak on Privacy Protections

On Tuesday, Bill Pewen, health policy adviser to Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), said privacy language in a bill aimed at accelerating the adoption of interoperable electronic health records has yet to be embraced by Congress, CongressDaily reports.

Snowe provided privacy language for a health IT bill sponsored by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and ranking member Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.).

However, the latest version of the legislation includes a privacy loophole related to consent for using health care data for marketing purposes, according to Pewen. He added that a privacy breach notification provision offered by Snowe also lacked support.

The bill is expected to be reintroduced in some form in the next Congress.

Pewen said he hoped 2009 would be "the big year we've been waiting for" in regard to health care reform but stressed the importance of ensuring patients' privacy and security (CongressDaily, 11/19).



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