report on state laws

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

> Center for Social & Legal Research
> 
> > PXNEWSFLASH                                        August 11, 1999
> > _____________________________________________
>  Health Privacy Project Delivers Comprehensive Study of
> State Law
> >
> > The Health Privacy Project of Georgetown University has published a
> > comprehensive study of state health privacy statutes. The report
> > contains a careful analysis of current trends in state law and a
> > detailed summary of patient access, privilege, restrictions on
> > disclosures, and condition-specific requirements for each state. One of
> > the key findings of the report was wide variation in patient access
> > provisions: 33 states grant access to records held by hospitals and
> > healthcare facilities, 13 to records held by HMOs and 16 to records held
> > by insurance companies. Many states grant access to medical records held
> > by a "provider," but the definitions of the term often exclude important
> > entities such as pharmacies. The report also found that state health
> > statutes have not kept up with changes in the healthcare environment and
> > information technology. "Our analysis is the first to delineate the ways
> > states have legislated medical records confidentiality," said Janlori
> > Goldman, Director of the Health Privacy Project. "It shows tremendous
> > unevenness, inconsistency, confusion, and lack of coherence across
> > states in their protection of basic privacy principles." But despite
> > this disparity, the report suggests broad preemption of state law may be
> > unwise. The report observes that: 1) states are first to respond to
> > health privacy concerns and have, in many cases, enacted strong
> > protections; 2) states are able to craft detailed laws that address the
> > unique needs of the patient population and particular healthcare
> > entities; and 3) the extensive range of state law makes it impossible to
> > predict the effect of federal preemption. August 10, 1999.
> >
> > The full text of the report is currently available for download at:
> > www.healthprivacy.org/resources/statereports/contents.html