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Proposed National Health Information System Won't Protect Patient Privacy Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., & Robert J. Cihak, M.D., The Medicine Men The U.S House of Representatives is now debating and is scheduled to vote on H.R. 4157, the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2006. If passed, this bill will greatly reduce your personal freedoms and privacy. Some of your concerns should be: 1. There are no provisions for patient privacy or consent for disclosure. This bill would enable the development of a national electronic health information system. Unfortunately, there are no provisions to protect patient privacy or security. Further, the bill doesn't require patient consent for your medical information to be disclosed to government or private parties.
In summary, the bill recognizes neither your right to privacy nor your right to be informed if there has been a security breach.
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This has been a battle of the PR wars, with misleading information claiming huge cost savings and a safer system. Supporters point to surveys showing that consumers support a national health information technology system. But that is misleading; consumers only support a system that is voluntary, protects their privacy, allows them to control the use of their information, and is not dumped into a central repository vulnerable to security breaches. Security cannot be guaranteed. Even the president's own cyber task force reported that existing systems are vulnerable to intrusions, and it's getting worse. Just look at the recent breach of the Veterans Affairs system that exposed millions of records. 3. The system will not accomplish the stated goal of cost savings. The bill will not save costs – and, in fact, places a further compliance burden on physicians to purchase and implement new technology, incurring costs that will be passed along to patients. Patients' insurance costs will increase again, and more physicians, already overburdened by governmental red tape, paperwork and threats, will simply retire from practice!
Those readers who are concerned should write or call their congressional representatives to oppose this nasty bill, which romps on your privacy and stomps on your personal and medical freedoms.
Congressional Switchboard: (202) 225-3121
Contact Drs. Glueck and Cihak by e-mail. Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a Senior Fellow and Board Member of the Discovery Institute and a past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., comments on medical-legal issues and is a Visiting Fellow in Economics and Citizenship at the International Trade Education Foundation of the Washington International Trade Council.
Editor's Note: You must protect your identification – Go Here Now!
Editor's note:
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