On Monday, CMS announced a final rule allowing qualified organizations to access its claims database to develop public ratings reports on physicians, hospitals and other health care providers, the AP/Washington Post reports Background According to the AP/Post, the database is considered the “mother lode” of health care data, with information on 47 million beneficiaries and nearly every participating physician and…
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"It's for the children," Friday edition
I’m nonpartisan, and I hate mixing politics and medical privacy on my blog, but some times it seems unavoidable. Tanya Somanader of liberal organization Think Progress reports: Republican lawmakers across the country are pushing the marginalization of low-income Americans by insisting they take a drug test before receiving federal aid. Joining Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Missouri,…
Complaint: medical "copyright over your comments" contracts are illegal
This may be more of a free speech than a privacy issues, but because a provider presented it as a “mutual privacy” issue, I’m posting this eyebrow-raising report by Nate Anderson: When our own Timothy B. Lee stepped into a Philadelphia dentist’s office earlier this year, he had an unpleasant experience: the dentist required him to…
Ie: Health workers warned over protecting patients' data
Ronan McGreevy reports: Health professions have been warned that ignorance is no excuse for the law in relation to the handling of patients’ records. More than 10,000 copies of a new handbook, which explains the law governing data protection and includes a self-assessment tool, will be distributed to people involved in keeping patients’ records. What…
Healthcare breaches: Do they even matter?
George V. Hulme reports: While the healthcare industry moves to invest billions into electronic health records, a steady trail of breaches and broken promises of security is starting to take its toll on patient trust. Trust, perhaps, but not willingness to have their records stored electronically? Do all of the breach reports change patients’ behavior or choice…
MN court orders new constraints on newborn screening program
Tony Kennedy reports the latest on controversial newborn screening legislation in Minnesota that has been challenged in the courts: A state health program that takes blood samples from Minnesota newborns to screen for more than 50 diseases and disorders can continue despite a legal challenge on genetic privacy grounds, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled today….