Kathy Muise's List: research

• privacy in all 50 states, including the right of patients to access to their own records
• Electronic health records: What are the benefits and dangers for consume

• More recently, Microsoft announced plans for its HeathVault Web site. HealthVault is a new service for storing, managing, and accessing a patient's medical information. www.healthvault.com. It operates as an online encrypted service.  The service offers a voluntary opportunity for medical records to be collected by aggregating information from various sources including health-care providers, insurance companies, and compatible medical devices (such as blood pressure monitoring devices). Google intends to offer a similar service.

   

  These types of aggregated electronic health records pose a number of concerns:

   
   
  • The custodian of the records may not necessarily be a "covered entity" under the HIPAA privacy rule. HIPAA only applies to health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses.  Therefore, it is possible that consumers may not have any privacy rights under the HIPAA law if they utilize a service that electronically aggregates medical records.
   
  • The Web site operator could become subject to judicial process and can be served with a subpoena for your personal medical records. This greatly facilitates the ability of both government entities and civil litigants to go on ìfishing expeditionsî for your medical records.
   
  • The Web site's privacy policy can be changed at any time. This could, for example, subject consumers to targeted advertising based upon their medical condition
• Read PRC Fact Sheet 8a, "HIPAA Basics: Medical Privacy in the Electronic Age," www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs8a-hipaa.htm.
• The Health Privacy Project is a resource for information on medical records confidentiality. Its web site includes information on federal HIPAA regulations as well as state laws of all 50 states. Web: www.healthprivacy.org

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