On Monday, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse released a consumer guide to explain federal and California laws on the privacy of patients' health records, U-T San Diego reports (Freeman, U-T San Diego, 7/30).
Paul Stephens -- director of policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse -- said the not-for-profit organization developed the guide using funds from the 2011 settlement of a class-action lawsuit over a data breach involving McKesson subsidiary NDCHealth.
The guide, published as a series of six fact sheets, covers:
- The basics of medical privacy for Californians (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 7/30);
- How medical information is used and shared;
- Prescription data privacy;
- Employment and medical privacy;
- The privacy of information in a health data exchange (U-T San Diego, 7/30); and
- Patient rights regarding the use of medical information (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse release, 7/30).
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse plans to eventually expand its guide to include additional fact sheets on health data privacy (U-T San Diego, 7/30).