Trade Group Expects HHS to Loosen HIPAA Medical Privacy Rules
An official of the National Association of Manufacturers, the nation's largest industrial trade organization, said last week that he expects HHS to relax the HIPAA medical privacy rules dictating the level of patient consent required for companies to use individuals' medical information, Technology Daily PM reports. Neil Trautwein, head of NAM's employment policy group, said he expects HHS to announce an interim regulation on medical privacy "any day." He said that because of the recent bioterrorist activity, public health officials should be able to share medical information more easily. The National Committee for Vital Health Statistics, an advisory committee to HHS, instructed HHS in November to clarify the medical privacy regulations to give health researchers uninhibited access to medical information for research purposes (Vaida, Technology Daily PM, 1/11).
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