This month, South Carolina will post the state's 700,000 Medicaid beneficiaries' medical records on an electronic network to give health care providers easier access to information that can help them provide better care, the Greenville News reports.
The South Carolina Budget and Control Board's Office of Research and Statistics built the South Carolina Health Information Exchange, or SCIEx, to link hospitals, doctors, clinics and other health care providers with the health care records.
David Patterson, deputy chief of health and demographics, said the primary components of the health data exchange are a records locator service and a system to connect different health databases.
Emma Forkner -- director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which administers Medicaid -- said the health data exchange program should save the state money by eliminating paper, printing and storage costs. She added that many of the state's Medicaid beneficiaries live in rural areas and receive irregular care or visit multiple doctors.
HHS contributed $250,000 to build the system, the News reports. The South Carolina Hospital Association, the South Carolina Primary Care Association, the Office of Rural Health and other health care provider groups also have signed onto the program, Patterson said.
Privacy Concerns
Deborah Peel, a psychiatrist and founder of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, said that few electronic health record systems are built with consumers in control. She added that the consequences of exposing patients' medical records can include employment and insurance discrimination.
Deven McGraw, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's health privacy project, acknowledges that health data exchanges could help improve patient care but adds that the increasing number of data breaches will prevent patients from trusting these initiatives.
SCIEx's Privacy, Security Safeguards
Forkner said that steps have been taken to ensure that health information stored in the SCIEx is protected.
For example, the data are encrypted and only stored on the network, not on laptop computers. In addition, employees will serve as "network cops" to identify any security breaches, the News reports.
Drug and alcohol treatment information will be blocked, but data about mental health illnesses and sexually transmitted infections are not.
Forkner added that Medicaid beneficiaries have the option to opt out of the health data exchange program.
Budget and Control Board spokesperson Michael Sponhour said the Office of Research and Statistics will not sell patient data or share the information with other groups that might sell it (Osby, Greenville News, 7/6).