Research Activities, August 2007: Announcements: New reports identify State-level privacy and security solutions for secure exchange of health information

New reports identify State-level privacy and security solutions for secure exchange of health information

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a set of reports titled Privacy and Security Solutions for Interoperable Health Information Exchange. The reports review 34 State Health Information Exchange plans and identify the challenges and feasible solutions for ensuring the safety and security of electronic health information exchange. This work was funded under a contract with AHRQ, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, and RTI International.

All States followed a standard core methodology, but each was provided an opportunity to tailor the process to meet their needs. As a result, States varied on several key dimensions, including degree of adoption of electronic health information exchange, health care market forces in the State, legal and regulatory conditions related to health information, State demographic composition, and State financial status. Some of the key findings point to the need for additional research and guidance on:

Identifying different interpretations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule among States and increasing awareness among stakeholders;
Addressing variations regarding the potential intersections between Federal/State privacy laws;
Evaluating the technologies available to protect security and privacy of individuals as well as the associated administrative processes and liabilities;
Developing a system that accurately and consistently matches individual patients with their health record information—one that is created and updated by various health care providers/ organizations; and,
Developing a standard set of definitions and terms to facilitate sharing of health information. For example, terms such as medical emergency, current treatment, related entity, and minimum necessary do not have agreed-upon definitions and may increase variation as organizations attempt to meet compliance.

The reports can be downloaded from AHRQ's Health IT Web site at http://www.healthit.ahrq.gov.

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