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New federal law on patient privacy proposed
August 10, 1997
Web posted at: 2:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton is backing a proposal for a comprehensive federal law that would protect the privacy of medical records and regulate access to the data, The New York Times reported Sunday.
The measures would establish minimum federal standards to control the use of personal health data at a time when insurance companies and managed health care organizations have the ability, and sometimes financial incentive, to collect and sell the personal data of millions of people, the newspaper reported.
"Our private health information is being shared, collected, analyzed and stored with fewer federal safeguards than our video store records," the Times quoted Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala as saying.
Under the proposals, patients would be able to get copies of their medical records and could correct inaccurate information, just as they can correct credit records.
Americans also would be able to find out who else has been looking at their health records.
Also, those who have access to confidential medical information, including insurers, drug distributors and billing-service companies, would be bound by the same standards as doctors and hospitals, according to the Times report.
People who improperly disclose or obtain the data would be punished.
The Times said the proposals would be sent to Congress later this month.
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Related story:
- Mitterrand book pits free speech against privacy - January 19, 1996
Related sites:
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- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Patient Privacy and Confidentiality - Massachusetts Medical Society Policy
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