The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act includes a standard for de-identification of patient data and a “safe harbor” for healthcare providers and plans that strip personal identifiers, such as names and addresses, from patients’ records. Healthcare experts have long supported the use of de-identified patient data to track population health and research.
However, Deven McGraw, member of the federal advisory of Health IT Policy Committee, has expressed concern over the fact that the safe harbor was created more than five years ago and that combining readily available online data makes it possible to re-identify patients. In its study, ONC hopes to identify the risks behind the practice by analyzing the de-identification and re-identification of data.
Ms. McGraw is also calling for greater accountability and consequences for those who misuse de-identified data, according to the report.
Read the Government Health IT news report about ONC’s study on the risks of de-identified patient data.
Read other coverage about privacy issues in healthcare IT:
– ONC Posts FAQs to Answer Healthcare Providers’ Most Asked Questions About Meaningful Use
