Health Information Privacy Reform

Abstract

Statutory protection for personal health information privacy is in clear need of reform. With few exceptions, current legal safeguards provide uneven coverage and limited protection. Absence of a uniform federal code of fair health information practices leaves individual rights in health information compromised, exposes data users, and poses a potential threat to the integrity of the data. Current legislative proposals for national health care reform seek to standardize privacy protection while simultaneously facilitating usage of personal health information in an electronic data network. Reform provisions for confidentiality of health data will establish explicit duties for "health information trustees" and should strengthen privacy safeguards in the workplace.