[Med-privacy] bill

[Peter Marshall]

*** Bill to Further Health IT Would Allow HIPAA to Supersede
     State Laws ***

Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), chair of the House Ways and Means 
Subcommittee on Health, plans to introduce a healthcare IT bill that 
would allow federal HIPAA privacy and security regulations to supersede 
any state privacy and security laws. The federal government has 
announced plans to study how state privacy laws could hamper healthcare 
IT uptake.

Dr. David Brailer, National Coordinator for Health IT at the Department 
of Health and Human Services (HHS), told members of the subcommittee 
that a drive to increase interoperability and the drive to use 
electronic health records would help get information where it is needed 
when it is needed. "The challenge here is how to adapt security/privacy 
issues with sharing information," Brailer said in response to a 
question posed by Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) about his opinion of HIPAA.

Read more:
http://www.hipaadvisory.com/news/index.cfm#0803hit