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Privacy & Confidentiality Issues:
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SEER-Medicare: HIPAA Regulations & SEER-Medicare Data
Researchers who wish to use the SEER-Medicare data may have concerns about
complying with the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. The SEER-Medicare
data contain information about geographic location at the county level as well
as dates of receiving health care services. Because of these variables, the
SEER-Medicare data are considered by HIPAA requirements as a limited data set,
which requires that investigators sign a Data Use Agreement prior to receiving
the data. This exception allows for the release of the SEER-Medicare data without
obtaining authorization from individual patients (see Federal Register, August
14, 2002, pg 53235). However, because the SEER-Medicare data are a limited data
set, investigators who have the data may not share these files with other
investigators. Investigators who are contacted by colleagues who wish to use
their data should ask their colleagues to contact
SEER-Medicare.
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