[Med-privacy] PPR Release

[peter marshall]

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Patient Privacy Rights Urges the House to Maintain the Practical, =20
Commonsense Protections in the Health Information Technology for =20
Economic and Clinical Health Act,=A0"HITECH Act"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2009

Contact: Ashley Katz, Patient Privacy Rights, (512) 897-6390, =20
akatz@patientprivacyrights.org; or
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WASHINGTON --As the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Ways and =20
Means Committee markup the Health Information Technology for Economic =20=

and Clinical Health Act, =93HITECH Act=94 today, Patient Privacy Rights =20=

(PPR) urges the committees to ensure all consumer protections in the =20
bill remain.=A0 The current draft of the legislation includes many =20
essential privacy provisions that must accompany the $20 billion =20
promotion of health IT in the economic stimulus.=A0 PPR supports the =20
practical, commonsense measures in the bill that begin to restore the =20=

consumer privacy protections that have been eliminated over the last =20
eight years.

Ensuring privacy results in two important outcomes:=A0 it protects =20
employees at a time when over eleven million Americans are unemployed, =20=

and helps ensure a successful health IT system that Americans trust.
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=93This bill is designed to stop harmful, illegal, and unethical sales =20=

and uses of Americans' personal health information, from prescription =20=

records to DNA and genetic tests---while ensuring that the healthcare =20=

system can benefit from new technologies,=94 said Deborah C. Peel, MD, =20=

Founder of Patient Privacy Rights. =93Americans need jobs in this bad =20=

economy and should be hired based on what they can do, not turned away =20=

because of fears that they will become sick and expensive employees in =20=

the future. We strongly support this bill as the first step toward =20
meaningful and comprehensive privacy protections needed to create a =20
trusted electronic health system.=94

The prohibition on the sale of protected health information is =20
critical.=A0=A0 Personal health information is not a typical commodity =
and =20
shouldn=92t be treated as such.

Congress must also ensure accountability, control and transparency with =20=

Health IT.=A0 In addition to the prohibition on sale, PPR urges members =20=

to fight any weakening of the provisions that improve enforcement, =20
require audit trails, breach notification, limitations on marketing and =20=

other uses of our personal information.=A0

We applaud the Committees=92 leadership and willingness to stand with =20=

consumers so that patient protections trump profit and that =20
accountability and transparency are assured where our taxpayer dollars =20=

are spent.=A0 We urge these members to maintain the privacy protections =20=

and integrity of this important legislation.

Read PPR's Letter of support here.

About Patient Privacy Rights:

As the nation=92s health privacy watchdog, Patient Privacy Rights works =20=

to ensure that we don=92t have to choose between privacy and health care =
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or health IT. Patient Privacy Rights is a 501(c)3 nonprofit =20
headquartered in Austin, Texas with an office in Washington D.C., =20
funded solely by individuals.=A0 Founded by a practicing physician, our =20=

mission is to ensure Americans control access to their personal health =20=

information so that we progress with privacy.=A0 When our most intimate =20=

information can be sold and shared with the click of a mouse, many may =20=

lose opportunities for work, wealth and well being.=A0

Patient Privacy Rights leads the bi-partisan Coalition for Patient =20
Privacy, representing nearly 12 million Americans and including over 50 =20=

consumer organizations and technology corporations such as the ACLU, =20
American Conservative Union, American Association for People with =20
Disabilities, AIDS Action, Family Research Council and Microsoft.=A0

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To see a copy of the Coaltion for Patient Privacy's letter to =20
Congress=A0go to: =20
http://www.patientprivacyrights.org/site/DocServer/=20
CoalitionPatPriv_Final01.14.09.pdf?docID=3D4701