Nancy Ferris reports:
Provisions to strengthen privacy protections for patients will be added to the long-stalled Wired for Health Care Quality Act in the Senate under an agreement between the sponsors and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).
Leahy’s concerns about the security and privacy of health records had held up Senate action on the bill, the major health information technology bill in Congress this year. Observers now expect the Senate to pass it this year, but they remain doubtful that the House will act on a companion bill.
Privacy provisions proposed by Leahy will be incorporated into a substitute bill that Kennedy and Enzi are expected to offer, perhaps next week.
Source – Government Health IT