GOVERNMENTHIPAA rule rapped as breaching privacyPhysician and consumer groups are taking aim at the regulation, which they say paradoxically removes privacy protections.By Joel B. Finkelstein, amednews staff. May 5, 2003. Washington -- Less than a month into its implementation, the federal privacy rule is already facing a two-fronted assault. Lawsuits and legislative efforts are seeking to overturn the rule, part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Its opponents allege that the regulation represents a breach of privacy and of the physician-patient relationship. The rule allows physicians, health plans and other "covered entities" to share health information, without obtaining patient consent, for treatment and payment purposes and for health care operations, such as quality assessment and underwriting. Some physician groups argue that the rule has already had a chilling effect by making patients more wary about what information they give to their doctors. There are also concerns that health plans will begin requesting from doctors more patient health information under the guise of health care operations, but that their real intent will be to cherry-pick patients by pricing unhealthy enrollees out of the market. In general, the rule's opponents worry about inappropriate access to personal health information. "I don't want bureaucrats from the Dept. of Health and Human Services looking at my records," said Michael D. Ostrolenk, national coordinator of the Maryland-based Medical Privacy Coalition, a group that advocates for informed consent to protect patients' information from misuse. "The rule puts the Fourth Amendment on hold," he said, referring to constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures. Under the rule, public health and law enforcement officials have new rights to access patient records without consent, he said. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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