Privacy

Living in an electronic age where just about all our personal information is stored on a computer someplace has its advantages, but also many drawbacks. While it might make it easier for physicians and other health care professionals to access information about a patient's medical condition, it also makes it easier for others to learn personal data someone might want to keep private.

Compounding the problem is that there are a plethora of conflicting state laws and regulations governing patient privacy and – until the year 2000 -- no real comprehensive national standard dictating who and why someone can gain access to an individual's personal health records.

Standards

The privacy standards enacted by the U.S. Congress limit the nonconsensual release and use of private health information and give individuals new rights to access their own records and to know who else has accessed them. The regulations also set a higher standard for protection for psychotherapy notes, based on the premise that such information is not a part of the medical record and is not intended to be shared with anyone else.

These privacy standards further strengthen an individual's control over their health information by including coverage for all forms of personal medical records, including paper records, oral communications, and electronic records. The regulations require most providers to get a person's consent for routine use and disclosure of health records.

Health and Human Services

Medical record privacy is overseen by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The regulations are enforced by the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

One of the focuses of the legislation was to eliminate the practice of employers using medical information to make hiring, firing, and promotion decisions based on health information. That means a hospital may use personal health information for providing care, teaching, training, conducting research, and ensuring quality, but prohibits employers from obtaining personal health information for other purposes without the consent of the individual.

Stronger Laws

In cases where federal and state privacy protection laws conflict, the stronger privacy protection prevails. These standards apply to everyone whether privately insured, uninsured, or participants in public insurance programs, such as Medicare or Medicaid.

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