MEDICAL PRIVACY: Union-Trib Tells Senate to Get Moving
A San Diego Union-Tribune editorial states that Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Jim Jeffords (R-VT) -- who is currently trying to marshall bipartisan support for a medical records privacy measure -- would do well to "remind his fellow senators of a Lou Harris poll indicating that 85% of the public believe that protecting the confidentiality of medical records is 'absolutely essential.' And he might call their attention to" a GAO report that documented several high-profile violations of patients' medical privacy. The editorial concludes, "In light of ... gross violations of patient privacy, which almost certainly will occur with greater frequency as medical records are computerized and become increasingly accessible online, it is imperative that lawmakers work out their differences on the medical records privacy bill" (6/17).
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