Privacy Protections Criticized in Electronic Health Records Effort
HHS has made progress in its efforts to implement electronic health records, but lacks an adequate system for ensuring privacy concerns are addressed, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Wednesday, CongressDaily reports.
The report, a follow-up to a January 2007 study, found that stakeholders "may lack the overall policies and guidance needed to assist them in their efforts to ensure that privacy protection measures are consistently built into health [information technology] programs and applications."
GAO also found HHS might miss a chance to earn public trust necessary for success of the nationwide IT network.
On Monday, House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) introduced a broad bill (HR 6898) to encourage nationwide implementation of integrated health IT.
Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also have introduced bills (CongressDaily, 9/18).