{"id":1566,"date":"2007-10-18T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-10-18T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp\/index.php\/2007\/10\/18\/47-state-national-organizations-health-it-companies-join-forces\/"},"modified":"2017-02-03T16:47:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T16:47:12","slug":"47-state-national-organizations-health-it-companies-join-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/2007\/10\/18\/47-state-national-organizations-health-it-companies-join-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"47 State & National Organizations, Health IT Companies Join Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release\u00a0October 18, 2007
\nContact:\u00a0 \\n Ashley G. Katz, MSW<\/a> This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it <\/span>\u00a0512.732.0033 or 512.897.6390<\/p>\n

Download as PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

47 State & National Organizations, Health IT Companies Join Forces to Demand Consumers Regain Control of their Personal Health Records.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Tipping Point for Health IT is not about funding or even bureaucracy:\u00a0 it\u2019s about PATIENTS trusting that their most personal information will be protected.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Washington, DC The bi-partisan Coalition for Patient Privacy is back on the steps of the Capitol urging Congress to restore basic privacy protections; only this year they have doubled their membership and included health IT corporations, big and small.\u00a0 As everyone races to build electronic health records systems without ironclad federal privacy protections, the ACLU, AIDS Action, the American Association for People with Disabilities, American Conservative Union, Family Research Council, Patient Privacy Rights, Consumer Action, Microsoft Corp., Inc. and many more ask Congress to step to the plate and set national privacy standards.\u00a0 Three-fourths of the American public want Congress, not unelected bureaucrats or the whims of the market, to ensure our right to health privacy is protected in electronic systems and yet we still have no Federal statutory right to health privacy.<\/p>\n

Read the Coalition for Patient Privacy\u2019s letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The letter to Congress will be revealed at a press conference Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. EST in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2456.\u00a0 \u201cToday the Coalition for Patient Privacy has transformed the debate on privacy and health IT: a major multinational technology corporation, Microsoft, has joined the American people in urging Congress to build ironclad privacy protections into electronic health systems up front\u201d said Dr. Deborah Peel, Founder of Patient Privacy Rights.\u00a0 \u201cThe false arguments that consumer control of access to health information is too expensive or will obstruct the flow of health information have been laid to rest. Privacy–every American’s right to control access to personal health information—is the key to building a successful electronic health system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Congressman Edward J. Markey will join the Coalition as they advocate for strong privacy protections at the press conference. \u201cThe great Irish poet William Butler Yeats once wisely observed, \u2018In dreams begins responsibility.\u2019 The dream of a nationwide, seamless, effective health IT system is enticing.\u00a0 Let us hope that we can realize this dream.\u00a0 But today Congress has a responsibility to ensure that patients\u2019 personal medical secrets are not put at risk in the process. If we fail to build in tough privacy principles and strict safeguards, we run the risk that the dream of health IT will turn into a nightmare.\u00a0\u00a0 I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress, and privacy leaders such as Dr. Peel, to craft legislation that both promotes the use of health IT while also preserving patient privacy,\u201d said Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), a Co-Chairman of the House Privacy Caucus.<\/p>\n

Frank Torres, Director of Consumer Affairs, Microsoft added: \u201cMicrosoft joins the Coalition for Patient Privacy in urging Congress to include basic privacy protections for electronic health records in any health IT bill it considers.\u00a0 Such protections are needed to ensure the creation of a health IT eco-system that consumers can trust.\u00a0 We can empower people to lead healthy lives, while putting them at the center and in control of their health information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter is being released at a crucial time as the Senate and House are preparing to consider legislation that will establish an Electronic Health Information Network.\u00a0 The Wired for Health Care Quality Act (S. 1693) pending in the Senate provides for a national electronic health information system and does not recognize or protect Americans’ right to health privacy.\u00a0 In fact, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue standards eliminating the individual’s right to health privacy without even providing an opportunity for public comment.
\n“Medical care is one of the most intimate, personal services in every individual’s life. It is an art form requiring complete honesty and absolute confidence in the good intentions and discretion of the attending physician.\u00a0 Infringements on that relationship are among the most destructive things the state can possibly do to its citizens,\u201d said William Westmiller, National Chairman, Republican Liberty Caucus.\u00a0 \u201cEvery patient has a right to absolute privacy and totally confidential treatment, just as fundamental as the right to their own life,” Westmiller said.<\/p>\n

Despite the intent of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its \u201cPrivacy Rule\u201d, the current regulations leave all Americans\u2019 personal health information completely vulnerable and exposed. State laws, common laws and the Constitution are there for protection.\u00a0 Yet the HIPAA \u201cPrivacy Rule\u201d is really a \u201cDisclosure Rule\u201d that authorizes more than 4 million entities to use and disclose an individual\u2019s health information.\u00a0 This disclosure is without the individual\u2019s consent and over their objections.\u00a0 \u201cAll Americans have a right to privacy, and that right doesn\u2019t stop at the doctor\u2019s office door. Medical privacy is a mystery to most Americans. After signing their HIPAA forms, most Americans don\u2019t think about what happens to their information, and worse, most would be shocked to know that their most personal information is not as safe as they would hope. Congress must ensure that Americans\u2019 medical information will not be used without their consent and that their privacy rights will not be trampled, whether their health information is kept on paper or electronically\u201d said Michael W. Macleod-Ball, American Civil Liberties Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel.<\/p>\n

“If Congress is going to force health IT on the American people with their foolish mandates, subsidies and grants, then at the very least there needs to be privacy protections included\u00a0 as well as the ability for sane citizens to opt out,” added the National Director for the Liberty Coalition, Michael Ostrolenk.<\/p>\n

As we move toward one of the most important elections in the nation’s history, all Americans should ask political candidates a simple question:\u00a0 \u2018Do you believe we as Americans have a right to health information privacy, and if so, do you believe that right should be recognized and protected in any national electronic health information system?\u2019\u00a0 \u201cThis is not a partisan issue: the right to health information privacy is a fundamental right of all Americans recognized in Constitutional law, standards for the ethical practice of medicine and the physician-patient privilege. The voters should know where the candidates stand on this critical issue,” said Jim Pyles, Principal in health law firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, P. C..<\/p>\n

The Coalition for Patient Privacy<\/a> first formed in 2006 and represents millions of Americans.\u00a0 Dr. Peel leads the Coalition and is the founder of Patient Privacy Rights<\/a>, a national consumer health privacy watchdog organization based in Austin, TX.<\/p>\n

Background Materials:<\/strong><\/p>\n