The Health and Human Services Department has released a report on the progress 33 states and Puerto Rico have made in tackling the privacy and security issues associated with health information exchanges (HIEs).
They were participating in the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration, a project that HHS sponsored from mid-2006 to the end of 2007.
According to the report, the project helped states determine what laws, rules and practices were useful in developing and operating HIEs and which were not.
HHS contracted with research institute RTI International to oversee the project. Officials in most of the participating states told RTI that the project increased stakeholder awareness of privacy and security issues. Fourteen said the project helped create support for planned HIEs, while 11 said they were updating laws in preparation for launching an HIE.
The report also documents executive orders issued by governors in support of HIEs and development of leadership organizations within states. As a result of the project, some states are continuing to work together on areas of mutual interest, such as Web sites that inform the public about privacy and security issues or finding ways to encourage health care providers to participate in HIEs.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sponsored the project.
From the battlefield to the home front: Managing medical data
Government Health IT presents Col. Claude Hines Jr., program manager for the Defense Health Information Management System, in this recent InSight eSeminar. Col. Hines discusses the health information technology and tactical challenges faced by the military medical community in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of conflict. In doing so, he describes the current information technology solutions for transferring clinical data between battlefield care givers to health care personnel at military treatment facilities worldwide.
