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privacy project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 1996
CONTACT:
HOST: Aaron Goldstein, 202/434-4771
GW: Dr. Richard Southby, 202/994-6220
HOST CONSORTIUM AND THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY TO STUDY HEALTHCARE
INFORMATION PRIVACY CONCERNS
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Healthcare Open Systems & Trials (HOST) and The George
Washington University (GW) Department of Health Services and Policy are
teaming up for a new study aimed at bridging the gap between privacy
advocates and the healthcare information industry and providers. Funded by
HOSTÃs joint ventures with the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, HIIT and HITECC, the study seeks to define the requirements of
privacy advocates -- putting the policy issues in technological terms.
HOST executive director Lewis Lorton said that "the technologists and
privacy advocates have too long been on opposite sides of the fence. We
think there is a great deal of common ground and we intend to illuminate it."
HOST and GW will conduct a series of in-depth interviews focused on how the
principles of confidentiality and privacy should be applied in real-world,
operational settings. Rather than try to meld an awkward consensus among
privacy advocates, the study will investigate separately the views of six
advocates. Iterative dialogues about specific but exemplar situations will
identify a clear set of technology viewpoints. The subjectsà responses
will be analyzed and a description of the systems needed to accommodate the
privacy requirements will be written by outside technological, legal and
administrative experts. To promote the most thorough exchange possible,
interviewees will receive a copy of the questionnaire well in advance and
will have the opportunity to review and amend their replies with their
comments incorporated in the final report.
Although the HOST-GW partnership already represents a broad spectrum of
stakeholders, including industry, academia and non-profit associations, the
architects of the study seek to involve multiple points of view at all
stages of the study. Richard Southby, chair of the GW Department of Health
Services and Policy, said "the projectÃs goal is to expand the pool of
knowledge that will be required to deploy health information networks
sensitive to privacy and technology concerns."
The legislative and regulatory atmosphere in Washington makes
privacy-technology issues increasingly important. After deliberating on
privacy legislation, the Congress finally enacted Administrative
Simplification provisions as part of the Kennedy-Kassebaum health reform
bill. That new law requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
promulgate privacy regulations. Lorton said that "the policy and
marketplace realities make it imperative that a clear understanding be
developed between privacy advocates and technologists about the functional
requirements of the emerging healthcare information systems."
HOST is a nonprofit consortium created in 1994 to enable healthcare through
better information technology. Our members share a belief in the
importance of open systems -- interoperable, distributed technology that
enables implementation of regional healthcare information systems -- and
the profound impact they will have on healthcare. A broad-based alliance,
HOST members cooperate on a variety of innovative projects. To encourage
wide application, activities are designed to be sustainable and scalable.
>###
Healthcare Open Systems & Trials (HOST)
444 N. Capitol St., Suite 414
Washington, D.C. 20001
--
Lewis Lorton, Executive Director
Healthcare Open Systems and Trials
tel 410-715-1181
fax 410-992-7060