[Med-privacy] EMRs

[peter marshall]

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  STATE PRIVACY LAWS MAY UNDERCUT ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS
  [SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: John Timmer]
  The US government has now adopted a policy of fostering the adoption=20=

of electronic medical records (EMR). The policy is intended to increase=20=

the efficiency of the US healthcare system, thereby lowering costs and=20=

reducing the incidence of preventable errors. At the same time, through=20=

its The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)=20
privacy rules, the government has set minimum standards for the=20
security of those records. These two goals=97privacy and security of=20
these records, along with their free interchange among medical=20
providers=97can easily wind up at odds with each other. A recent study=20=

that looked at the role of state privacy laws in EMR adoption suggests=20=

that the problem is very real, as state privacy laws seem to inhibit=20
the use of EMR by hospitals located there. The authors, based at MIT=20
and the University of Virginia, line up a variety of data that validate=20=

their suggestion that privacy and the use of EMR may require a careful=20=

balance. So, for example, they cite some highly publicized lapses when=20=

it comes to the maintenance of patient privacy: someone once offered=20
the records of 200,000 patients for sale on Craigslist, while hospitals=20=

have seen their own employees attempt to get at the electronic files of=20=

famous patients.
http://benton.org/node/24306=

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<fontfamily><param>Verdana</param><smaller> STATE PRIVACY LAWS MAY
UNDERCUT ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

 [SOURCE: ars technica, AUTHOR: John Timmer]

 The US government has now adopted a policy of fostering the adoption
of electronic medical records (EMR). The policy is intended to
increase the efficiency of the US healthcare system, thereby lowering
costs and reducing the incidence of preventable errors. At the same
time, through its The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA) privacy rules, the government has set minimum standards
for the security of those records. These two goals=97privacy and
security of these records, along with their free interchange among
medical providers=97can easily wind up at odds with each other. A recent
study that looked at the role of state privacy laws in EMR adoption
suggests that the problem is very real, as state privacy laws seem to
inhibit the use of EMR by hospitals located there. The authors, based
at MIT and the University of Virginia, line up a variety of data that
validate their suggestion that privacy and the use of EMR may require
a careful balance. So, for example, they cite some highly publicized
lapses when it comes to the maintenance of patient privacy: someone
once offered the records of 200,000 patients for sale on Craigslist,
while hospitals have seen their own employees attempt to get at the
electronic files of famous patients.

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<color><param>0000,0000,EEEE</param>http://benton.org/node/24306</color></=
smaller></fontfamily>=

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