White House science and tech panel will call for broader privacy law

Nancy Ferris reports in Government Health IT:

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology is expected to join the chorus of organizations calling for changes in federal privacy rules to increase patients’ comfort levels with e-health records.

At a meeting with President Bush April 8, council members told the president that “privacy legislation is imperative to the advancement of personalized medicine,” said Kathleen Behrens, a California venture capitalist and PCAST member who is heading the council committee preparing a report on personalized medicine. 

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Personalized medicine involves the use of genetic information about a specific patient to come up with diagnoses and treatments that are suited to that individual. It is expected to become increasingly common.

Among the other organizations that have called for broadening the categories of organizations that are required by HIPAA to keep patients’ information private are the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and the AHIC’s Confidentiality, Privacy and Security work group.

Full story – Government Health IT