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June 2006 News ArchivesJune 29, 2006 OCR Publishes Disaster Recovery Planning Tool The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a new web-based interactive decision tool designed to assist emergency preparedness and recovery planners in determining how to access and use health information about persons with disabilities consistent with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The tool will guide emergency preparedness and recovery planners through a series of questions regarding how the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies to a particular disclosure. By helping users focus on the source of the information being disclosed, to whom it is being disclosed, and for what purpose, users will better meet the needs of the elderly or persons with disabilities in the event of an evacuation. While the tool’s initial purpose focused on emergency planning for persons with disabilities, it is applicable to most emergency planning efforts. The intended audiences include covered entities as well as emergency preparedness and recovery planners at the local, state and federal levels. Go to OCR's Emergency Preparedness Planning and Response page. June 26, 2006 Bills to Share Health Data Introduced, Stalled While members of Congress in June introduced legislation that would create nonprofit institutions charged with managing patients' electronic health records for a lifetime, a separate House bill to make health information systems interoperable has stalled, reports eWeek. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Reps. Dennis Moore (D-KS) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced legislation calling for a new kind of organization known as an IHRB (independent health record bank) to operate lifetime health records. The second bill (HR 4157), sponsored by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Nathan Deal (R-GA) was supposed to come to the floor on or shortly after June 19, but legislators decided to delay the vote after the Congressional Budget Office determined it would increase spending and decrease revenues. June 26, 2006 Report: Most RHIO Funding Comes from Government A new report concludes governments are likely to find themselves spending more on regional health information organizations as RHIOs mature, reports Government Health IT. The Healthcare IT Transition Group consulting firm surveyed 50 RHIOs to find out how they are being financed. In its report, "Funding RHIO Startup and Financing for Life," the firm's analysts concluded that most RHIOs will be operating as nonprofit organizations such as the Red Cross or local YMCAs. June 26, 2006 NCVHS Can't Decide on Opt-In or Opt-Out Policy for NHIN Unable to reach a consensus on how to give individuals some control of their own health records on a future national health information network (NHIN), an advisory committee is recommending that the Department of Health and Human Services continue to study the issue and educate the public, reports Government Health IT. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) concluded that individuals should have the right to decide whether their electronic health records (EHRs) should be accessible via the national network, and the committee said doctors should be required to treat patients who don't agree to participate in the network. But the committee was split on whether the nation should adopt an opt-in or opt-out policy. Read NCHVS' recommendations regarding privacy and confidentiality in the NHIN. June 19, 2006 Texas Appeals Court Rules State Public Info Laws Override HIPAA State public information laws override federal healthcare privacy laws, a Texas appeals court ruled June 16 in a case being eyed by public information advocates across the country, reports the Associated Press. The case stems from complaints that HIPAA hampered journalists' pursuit of information that had previously been accessible under the state's public information law. In Texas, a case developed after a request by the Austin American-Statesman for information from state Mental Health and Mental Retardation officials. The agency refused the newspaper's request for assault statistics at MHMR facilities. The Third Court of Appeals on June 16 upheld a 2004 opinion by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, declaring that information already deemed public under state laws would remain that way. June 14, 2006 US, Canada, Australia & UK to Work Together on HIT Issues Leaders of health IT initiatives in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK have agreed to collaborate more closely and to pursue common opportunities, reports Canadian Healthcare Technology. The decision to collaborate more closely came following an in-depth discussion at a meeting held on May 4 and 5 in San Francisco of common themes and goals that could be aligned and experience that could be leveraged on an international scale. Adoption of standards will be a key focus of the ongoing collaboration. June 9, 2006 VA Secretary Wants HIPAA-Like Penalties for Mishandling Personal Data The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, R. James Nicholson, called yesterday for tougher penalties on federal employees who mishandle sensitive information, reports the Washington Post. Nicholson told the House Government Reform Committee that it is "too hard, in my opinion, to discipline people in the civil service -- it's too hard to impose sanctions." He recommended that the committee look at HIPAA as a model. "I think we should consider putting the same kind of teeth into an enforcement mechanism for the compromising and the careless and negligent handling of personal information," Nicholson said. June 9, 2006 House Subcommittee Advances Amended Healthcare IT Bill Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health approved a bill (HR 4157) to promote the use of healthcare IT, after removing several "contentious" provisions, reports iHealthBeat. The legislation, sponsored by Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Nathan Deal (R-GA), establishes a three-year timeline for HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to assess and endorse interoperability guidelines. In addition, like an IT bill before the Senate, it protects state information privacy laws that are more stringent than HIPAA, reports Modern Healthcare. The bill does not establish a deadline for providers to convert to ICD-10 billing codes nor provide money for providers to adopt new technology. While the Energy and Commerce bill is fairly similar to the one in Ways and Means, it does not include an ICD deadline. Read iHealthBeat's article, "House Subcommittee Passes Amended Health IT Bill." Read Modern Healthcare's article, "House Panel Advances IT Bill Without ICD-10 Deadline." June 5, 2006 Medical Privacy Law Nets No Fines In the three years since Americans gained federal protection for their private medical information, the Department of Health and Human Services has received thousands of complaints alleging violations, but has not imposed a single civil fine and has prosecuted just two criminal cases, reports the Washington Post. Of the 19,420 grievances lodged so far, more than 14,000 -- more than 73 percent of the cases -- have been "closed" by the government, either ruling that there was no violation, or allowing health plans, hospitals, doctors' offices or other entities simply to promise to fix whatever they had done wrong, escaping any penalty. Privacy advocates say the lack of civil fines has sent a clear message that health organizations have little to fear if they violate HIPAA. June 5, 2006 Vast DNA Bank Pits Policing Vs. Privacy Brimming with the genetic patterns of more than 3 million Americans, the nation's databank of DNA "fingerprints" is growing by more than 80,000 people every month, giving police an unprecedented crime-fighting tool but prompting warnings that the expansion threatens constitutional privacy protections, reports the Washington Post. Law enforcement officials say they have no interest in reading people's genetic secrets; the US profiling system focuses on just 13 small regions of the DNA molecule which vary enough to give everyone who is not an identical twin a unique 52-digit number. Still, the specimen that yields that DNA, and which authorities almost always save, contains additional genetic information that is sensitive, including disease susceptibilities that could affect employment and health insurance prospects.
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