PRIVACY FOR PATIENTS
December 20, 2000

After this background report, health policy experts discuss the new federal rules for medical privacy. The Health Unit is a partnership with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

 

A Health Spotlight Report: Patients' Bill of Rights Nov. 1, 1999: The president's privacy proposal. Oct. 29, 1999: President Clinton proposes increased privacy for patients. The NewsHour's Health Spotlight. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Health     Health Privacy Project Health Insurance Association of America White House	DOCTOR: You've had no signs of side effects from the medications. I'm happy to see that. RAY SUAREZ: Whether it's information about your latest doctor's visit, your medical bill, or the drug you just picked up at the pharmacy, millions of pieces of medical information are on record somewhere. PHARMACIST: Let me put a rush for you on this one. RAY SUAREZ: Medical information is routinely shared among a number of parties, including healthcare providers, insurance companies and employers. Sometimes that is for benign reasons, such as comparing records among thousands of patients to ensure they're all getting the best care. But as technological innovation has made it easier to distribute medical information, there has been growing concern and debate among consumers, privacy advocates, and healthcare providers about access to private medical information. Until now, patients have had to rely on state laws protecting medical privacy, which range from comprehensive to nonexistent. For the last four years, the Clinton administration has been drafting new regulations protecting patient confidentiality, and today the president unveiled them. PRESIDENT CLINTON: Nothing is more private than someone's medical or psychiatric records. And, therefore, if we are to make freedom fully meaningful in the information age, when most of our stuff is on some computer somewhere, we have to protect the privacy of individual health records.
	Patient's consent
	RAY SUAREZ: The new federal regulations will limit the information all health care providers, and payers, can divulge without a patient's consent. The rules cover both electronic and paper records, plus oral communication -- a major change won by privacy advocates after an earlier draft limited the regulations to electronic records. PRESIDENT CLINTON: The rules that we've released today, have been carefully crafted for this new era to make medical records easier to see for those who should see them, and much harder to see for those who shouldn't. Employers, for instance, shouldn't see medical records except for limited reasons such as to process insurance claims, yet too often they do. A recent survey showed that more than a third of all Fortune 500 companies check medical records before they hire or promote. RAY SUAREZ: The new regulations prohibit employers from gaining access to medical information about employees and job applicants and in general prohibits use of medical information for anything other than medical care. The rules require a patient's written consent for even routine disclosure of information, like treatment and the payment of claims. Patients would, for the first time, have the right to view and copy their medical records. They could also request correction of information they consider inaccurate or incomplete. The regulations do not allow a patient to sue for damages if their records are improperly released. But they do require law enforcement officers to get a subpoena or warrant in order to examine health records. Under the new federal regulations, scheduled to take effect in two years, healthcare providers and insurers would be subject to criminal and civil penalties for improperly using or disclosing medical information.