HIPAA Privacy Rule: The Debate Continues

Extract

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” In other words, the Fourth Amendment guarantees the privacy of Americans. Yet, many Americans feel that this freedom has been violated when discussing the privacy of their medical information. They are concerned that the privacy of their medical information is not protected. In January 1999, a national survey conducted by the California HealthCare Foundation found that one in five Americans feel that their health information is being disclosed inappropriately. Without this trust, patients are compromising their own healthcare either by providing inaccurate information to their physician, changing physicians, or avoiding care altogether.¹ With the rising concern about patient privacy, the United States federal government realized that something needed to be done.

On August 21, 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted. Although this legislation was well intended, its supporters failed to recognize several potential problems. One of the biggest short-falls was the fact that patient health information may be exposed without patient consent. Even though all states had laws in effect to cover this deficit, the laws varied from state to state. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has subsequently issued another law entitled the HIPAA Privacy Rule. This law is expected to prevent exposure of a patient's confidential medical information. New questions have arisen. Should the HIPAA Privacy Rule…

ABBREVIATIONS: DHHS = Department of Health and Human Services; HIPAA = Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; LIS = laboratory information system; PHI = protected health information; POL = physician office laboratory.