{"id":1606,"date":"2008-05-13T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp\/index.php\/2008\/05\/13\/25-national-organizations-urge-privacy-in-e-prescribing\/"},"modified":"2016-12-16T17:39:33","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T17:39:33","slug":"25-national-organizations-urge-privacy-in-e-prescribing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/2008\/05\/13\/25-national-organizations-urge-privacy-in-e-prescribing\/","title":{"rendered":"25 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGE PRIVACY IN E-PRESCRIBING"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n

CONTACT:<\/p>\n

Ashley Katz<\/p>\n

Patient Privacy Rights<\/p>\n

(512) 732-033 or (512) 897-6390<\/p>\n

akatz@patientprivacyrights.org<\/a> This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it <\/span><\/p>\n

www.patientprivacyrights.org<\/a><\/p>\n

25 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS URGE PRIVACY IN E-PRESCRIBING<\/p>\n

What Could Be Scary About E-Prescribing? Plenty.<\/p>\n

Washington, DC \u2013 Twenty five organizations, including the ACLU, the Republican Liberty Caucus, the American Council for the Blind and the National Association of Social Workers joined forces via the Coalition for Patient Privacy to urge Congress to include privacy protections in any federal electronic prescribing legislation. Read the Coalition\u2019s letter to Congress here.<\/p>\n

What is scary about e-prescribing? Much more than you might think. Today, plenty of private corporations and employers have access to Americans\u2019 private prescription use that includes individually identifiable data. Deborah Peel, MD, Founder of Patient Privacy Rights and leader of the Coalition explains the need for privacy with e-prescribing, \u201cOur current system allows every prescription in the United States to be data mined and sold. This has been the reality for over a decade. You cannot keep a prescription private in the U.S. or stop your data from being sold, even if you pay cash.\u201d This practice is completely compliant with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).<\/p>\n

While e-prescribing is attractive to many, Americans do not want their private prescription information data mined and used without their permission. Many Americans would be quite alarmed to discover their employer and others know they take an anti-anxiety medication or that they are being treated for an STD. West Virginia is a perfect example: when state employees recently learned that Express Scripts was selling their prescription records to data miners, they were outraged. Express Scripts promptly agreed to stop this practice when faced with losing 200,000 customers.<\/p>\n

Some argue the e-prescribing bills do not change anything. While the fact that the U.S. has a systemic, extensive system for prescription data mining and sale is NOT a secret anymore, the Coalition argues that now is the ideal time to end this unethical use of our private prescription records. When you know something bad is happening, that is the time to stop it. \u201cWould you sit there and watch a house burn down, or let somebody bleed to death before your eyes and do nothing? Or would try to stop those harms?\u201d asks Peel. \u201cNow that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the systemic theft and misuse of personal data is occurring, why wouldn\u2019t we do all we can to stop it now, starting with e-prescribing?\u201d Members of the Coalition for Patient Privacy actually see this debate as a golden opportunity to ensure both progress and privacy.<\/p>\n

The Coalition for Patient Privacy recommends the following basic principles in any eprescribing legislation:<\/p>\n