Health Information Management

Bipartisan coalition encourages medical privacy legislation

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, October 29, 2007

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A bipartisan coalition including members of congress and private companies seeks to step up medical privacy laws to protect against identity theft and abuse, especially in light of the increasing number of personal health record databases and electronic medical records, according to an October 18 article in the Washington Times.

"If you think we've got a problem with identity theft now, just wait," Dr. Deborah Peel, chair of the Patient Privacy Rights coalition, told the Washington Times.

Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), other liberal lawmakers, and private companies, such as Microsoft Corp., and the conservative Family Research Council, support the legislation, according to the article.

"Without strong privacy safeguards, a health [information-technology] database will become an open invitation for identity thieves, fraudsters, extortionists or marketers looking to cash in on our medical histories," Rep. Markey told the Washington-Times.

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