August 2001 News Archives

August 30, 2001 Congressman Joins Doctors' Privacy Suit Filed Today According to U.S. Newswire, Rep. Ron E. Paul (R-TX) joined the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) as a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed today in Houston against HHS and Secretary Tommy Thompson to overturn new federal medical privacy regulations as unconstitutional. "Far from protecting privacy, these rules give government officials and certain private interests a new federal right to access medical records without consent," said Rep. Paul, who is also a physician. "AAPS deserves the gratitude of every American for fighting to stop these regulations and I am pleased to support their efforts." Full Story.

August 29, 2001 AAPS HIPAA Suit Temporarily Halted to Add Plaintiffs
A lawsuit challenging the new privacy regulations under HIPAA has been halted temporarily to allow more plaintiffs to sign on. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) announced the suit July 31. According to AAPS Executive Director Jane Orient, M.D., unlike two other suits against HIPAA, the AAPS suit challenges the constitutionality of the regulations as well as claiming they violate the Paperwork Reduction Act. Orient said AAPS is waiting to hear from about a half-dozen other potential plaintiffs to join the suit, which already has two individuals and one patient group joining in the action. AAPS hopes to file by the end of the week.
Addendum: In an August 27 letter to the Washington Times, Orient argued that the HIPAA regulations "facilitate formation of a nationalized database of medical records and gives government unprecedented access to sensitive medical information. These 'midnight regulations' will severely damage the confidential patient-doctor relationship." Read the letter.

August 28, 2001 Judge Hears Testimony by Woman Whose Records, Photo Were Posted to Web After Abortion, Orders Records Off Internet A judge heard testimony last week in a privacy violation suit brought by an Illinois woman whose photo and medical records were posted to the Internet by antiabortion activists after she underwent an abortion, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, testified that she was "humiliated and frightened by the events," adding that even though her name was not posted to the Web, she felt she could be identified by the photo and other personal details included in the records. After the testimony, the judge ordered that the records and photo remain off the Internet, reinforcing a temporary order issued in July. Full Story.

August 28, 2001 Governors Ask Congress to Amend HIPAA Governors called on Congress last week to give states more time to enact complicated regulations intended to simplify and standardize the way hospitals, health insurance companies, the Medicaid program, and others in the nation's health care system collect and process patients' information. In a National Governors Association (NGA) letter sent to the chair and ranking members of the Senate Finance and House Commerce Committees, the governors requested amending HIPAA to give states a longer and more clearly structured implementation period. Full Story.

August 27, 2001 Researchers: Privacy Rule Creates Obstacles, Needs Fixing In testimony last week before the National Committee of Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) stated its objections to certain provisions in the HIPAA final privacy rule. The Association believes that some of the standards outlined in the HIPAA rule would constrict the researchers' access to essential medical information, and create significant obstacles to the conduct of research. In addition to the testimony, the AAMC and 13 other organizations representing the research community recently expressed their concerns in a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. Full Story.

August 24, 2001 Study Says HIPAA and Other Factors Likely to Change Managed Care Managed care companies and HMOs, under siege by regulators, legislators, physicians and patients, are likely to implement some substantial changes in the near future, a new study by Conning & Company reports. In addition to other factors, the costs of complying with the provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and HIPAA are likely to force smaller, less technically astute organizations out of business or, more likely, into mergers with larger, better capitalized companies. Read more.

August 24, 2001 AHIMA Wants More Stringent Minimum Necessary Standard On Wednesday, Dan Rode, AHIMA vice president testified before the National Committee of Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) that while the Association supports the HIPAA Privacy Rule's minimum necessary standard, more requirements are needed. Rode recommended that the covered entity should be able to ask for additional justification of a another covered entity requesting protected health information (PHI). Also, responsibility to disclose health information should be centralized so to ensure compliance with the law and disclosure policy. Lastly, statements assuring that the requested health information is the minimum necessary and that information will be destroyed afterwards should accompany any disclosure to external requestors. Read more.

August 17, 2001 Report: U.S. Businesses Fail 'Safe Harbor' Data Privacy Test According to E-Commerce Times, a study released Thursday by Andersen found none of the 75 companies studied in the report met all of the Safe Harbor international privacy standards that went into effect July 1st between the European Union (EU) and the US. In addition, only 5 percent of the companies studied can assure compliance with the safe harbor principles and provide recourse to individuals whose privacy is breached. Just 25 percent, meanwhile, included proper notice to individuals before using their information for a purpose other than originally intended or before disclosing their information. Full Story.

August 16, 2001 NCVHS to Hold Subcommittee Meeting on Privacy and Confidentiality The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), Subcommittee on Privacy and Confidentiality, will be holding a meeting to receive information from the public on the implementation of the HIPAA Privacy regulation (45 CFR parts 160 and 164). Those who provide health care, those who pay for it (such as health plans), and those who use health information (such as the research and public health communities), as well as members of the public, will have an opportunity to address specific issues about the implementation of the regulation and suggest possible solutions for these issues. The meeting will take place in Washington, DC from 1:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 8/21/01; 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 8/22/01; and 8:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, 8/23/01. Visit the NCVHS home page for the final agenda.

August 9, 2001 Health Industry Group Calls on DHHS to Speed Revision of Privacy Rules The Healthcare Leadership Council (HLC), a health industry group representing more than 80 organizations, sent a letter to DHHS Secretary Tommy Thompson on Monday asking for "swift action to complete and publish modifications to new federal rules on medical privacy." In the letter, HLC urges DHHS to "speed"efforts to publish modifications to the rule." Last minute modifications pose real problems for America's health care system," the letter said. Read the letter.

August 7, 2001 Gartner Report: Consumers Want Privacy and Security Online A new report from Gartner advises companies to use and promote privacy and security protections in order to capture the yet untapped consumer base of Web shoppers with low confidence in the privacy and security of Web transactions. The report finds that over 80 percent of online American adults are very concerned about the security of bank and brokerage account numbers, as well as their Social Security and credit card numbers when doing online transactions. Full Story.

August 3, 2001 CHIP Outlines Transactions' Impact on Small Providers
Wednesday, the Coalition for Health Information Policy (CHIP) sent a letter to DHHS outlining the impact of the HIPAA Transactions Rule on small providers. CHIP supports the timely implementation of HIPAA and stated that small providers' compliance burden will be eased considerably by the assistance of professional associations and software updates from established vendors. The letter was sent in response to a DHHS request for this information. Read the letter.

August 1, 2001 URAC Releases Health Web Site Accreditation Standards
On July 27, the URAC Board of Directors granted final approval to the standards URAC will use for its Health Web Site Accreditation Program. The standards, which were released yesterday, are designed for consumer-oriented, online health
resources, and address a number of important concerns, including privacy and security. Read more.

August 2001 News Archives

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