Health Law

Reports Find Security & Privacy Variations in State Health Data Exchanges

By Helen Oscislawski

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a series of reports funded by AHRQ and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT which examine the variations in data privacy and security among 34 regional health information organizations.  The reports found that state RHIOs varied in several areas, including the level of adoption for electronic health data exchanges, state health care market forces, and legal and regulatory conditions related to health information.   According to Health Data Management, the reports also recommend additional research and guidance on:

• Determining states' varying interpretations of HIPAA
• Assessing differences between state and federal privacy laws 
• Assessing technologies that could protect the security and privacy of individuals, as well as the related administrative processes and liabilities
• Creating a system that matches patients with their health information and is updated by various providers and organizations, and
• Developing a standard set of definitions and terms to ease health data sharing

Full post as published by HIPAA Health Law & Technology on August 10, 2007 (boomark / email).