HHS rules on protecting genetic data
The Health and Human Services Department wants to prevent health plans from using or disclosing individuals’ genetic information. HHS proposed changes Oct. 1 to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to prohibit such practices and to clarify that genetic information is protected health data. The HIPAA changes accompanied related rules that HHS and the Labor and Treasury departments issued to protect people from having their genetic information used against them in determining health care coverage. HHS’ Office of Civil Rights could impose a fine of $100 to $50,000 for each violation. The rules are online.
Lack of EHRs impedes data mining, says PwC report
Analysis of health data from a variety of sources, such as electronic health records and insurance claims, could help identify patterns that could lead to improved health outcomes, reduce medical errors, predict health trends and detect fraud, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a report released Oct. 1. The information would be aggregated and stripped of personal identification, according to the findings based on a survey of healthcare industry professionals. The government has a role in creating incentives for the private sector to collect, share and use the data and set technical standards and guidelines. Survey participants said that chief reason for not mining health data for secondary uses was the lack of access to data because of the low adoption of electronic health records. The report is online.
Registries will feed CMS quality measures
The Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. and Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation is developing cardiac outcomes measures based on data from patient registries and claims in partnership with the American College of Cardiology. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will potentially use the measures in public reporting and in programs that pay for reporting of hospital quality. CMS is reviewing public comments about the proposed measures. The project is online.
Pulbished in Government Health IT, 2 October 2009
Federal funding may be encouraging a move toward EHR, but there’s more to it than just installing systems. How can healthcare data pooling lead to a better system? More at http://www.healthcaretownhall.com/?p=1499.