"Group offers model for medical privacy"

[peter marshall <techdiff@ix.netcom.com>]

http://www.herald.com:80/content/thu/news/national/digdocs/008499
> =2Ehtm
> 
> >   Published Thursday, July 15, 1999, in the Miami Herald
> > =
> 
> > Group offers model for medical privacy
> > =
> 
> > Safeguards urgently needed, advocates say
> > =
> 
> > By LISA RAMIREZ
> > Herald Washington Bureau
> > =
> 
> > WASHINGTON -- A national panel of medical, legal and
> > ethical experts offered a blueprint Wednesday for
> > protecting Americans' medical privacy -- a looming issue
> > as technology makes it easier to spread personal health
> > information.
> > =
> 
> > Congress promised last year to set standards to protect
> > the privacy of personal medical information by Aug. 21 of
> > this year or to pass the job along to Donna Shalala,
> > secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
> > Services.
> > =
> 
> > With the outlook for congressional action uncertain, the
> > Health Privacy Working Group laid out 11 guidelines
> > Wednesday that doctors, hospitals, clinics, drug and
> > health care companies and others could use to protect
> > privacy.
> > =
> 
> > ``We think this can serve as a model for Congress .=A0.=A0.,''
> > said Janlori Goldman, director of the working group staff.
> > ``In the absence of federal legislation .=A0.=A0. we can't
> > leave people vulnerable.''
> > =
> 
> > Safeguards are urgently needed, privacy advocates say,
> > because, with the growth of computer databases, access to
> > medical data has become easier.
> > =
> 
> > Employers, health care providers, pharmacies and countless
> > others have access to medical histories, including whether
> > people have had a sexually transmitted disease, suffer
> > from a terminal illness or share a genetic predisposition
> > to disease.
> > =
> 
> > While there are legitimate reasons to disclose patient
> > records -- such as for research to prevent, treat and cure
> > disease -- there must be enforceable legislation that will
> > protect privacy, advocates say.
> > =
> 
> > Fear that medical information might be misused is
> > widespread. Patients worry their employers might
> > discriminate against them if they were known to have
> > certain diseases, that insurance companies might deny them
> > coverage or that they may even fail to get a home mortgage
> > based on negative information about their health.
> > =
> 
> > A survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates
> > in January and paid for by the California Health Care
> > Foundation showed Americans are wary of the
> > computerization of medical records and ambivalent about
> > personal information being used in research that is not
> > government- or university-based.
> > =
> 
> > Medical professionals worry that patients are trying to
> > protect their privacy by giving inaccurate or incomplete
> > information on medical histories, asking physicians not to
> > record health problems or embarrassing conditions, hopping
> > from doctor to doctor, paying out-of-pocket or avoiding
> > doctors altogether.
> > =
> 
> > This trend is not widespread, but if action isn't taken
> > quickly people will jeopardize their health care, and the
> > integrity and credibility of medical data will be
> > undermined, said Sam Karp, head of technical services for
> > the California Health Care Foundation, a philanthropic
> > organization.
> > =
> 
> > At the same time, health care professionals see great
> > benefits from databases of personal health information,
> > which could yield important medical advances through
> > broader analysis of patterns of disease and treatment.
> 
> >                Copyright 1999 Miami Herald