Health Care Reform and Medical Privacy Not Mutually Exclusive
One of the Obama Administration's top priorities for its first year in office has been achieved, Public Law No: 111-148 the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act will provide access to health care for over 30 million uninsured Americans. Part of the implementation of health care reform was the establishment of a national network for health information exchange. The design of the exchange and the rules governing who may have access to health information is closely debated in the patient privacy advocacy community. The American Recovery and Investment Act past early in 2009 provided extensive language regarding health information privacy, while the health insurance plan passed over the weekend allows access to medical information for research purposes without the patient's consent. Privacy equals control over who, when, why, and how another may access information about the data subject. There are not exceptions regarding control over access to data if there is to be privacy protection.
Your Medical Records Aren't Secure, Dr. Deborah Peel, Wall Street Journal Opinion, March 23, 2010
