New legislation called the Health Insurance PortableAdministration Act (HIPAA) now gives patients the right to view orrestrict sharing of personal health information.
Under the new rules, health care providers must give patientsnotice on how their medical information will be used. Healthprofessionals at The University of Memphis support the laws.
"I do agree with the legislation," said Toni Bargagliotti, deanand professor at The U of M Loewenberg School of Nursing. "As oftenoccurs with legislation, the legislators are trying to protect thepublic. What the law does is to make more explicit those acceptednorms of behavior surrounding every patient's right to privacy ofmedical records and medical history."
Although it will help protect the privacy of citizens, there isdebate over some aspects of the legislation.
"As with most legislation, there are pieces of the legislationthat will initially seem onerous or difficult for certain affectedparties," said Bargagliotti.
Millions of health care providers, including hospitals, doctorsand health plans must comply with the medical privacy rules,however it does not yet effect The U of M.
"The HIPAA Act does not apply to The University right now," saidSherry Lipman, University of Memphis Legal Counsel. "When it doesapply, it will not be a huge change for us. It will be a matter ofadding firewalls to our computers. As a university, we are alwayscareful about all confidential information."
Currently, student records are protected under FERPA (FamilyEducational Rights and Privacy Act) and health records fall underthis legislation.
Some parts of the act went into effect several years ago, Lipmansaid. The legislation regarding healthcare records became effectiveApril 14 and applies to the electronic transmission of certaininformation, she added.
Although the rules cover a broad range of practices andprocedures, they are not as strong as some patient advocates hadhoped.
However, many non-routine disclosures, including givinginformation about an employee to an employer, are prohibited.
The law protects the rights of students as well. Those studentswho have sought counseling or have been treated at a universityhealth facility cannot have information released about theirrecords without their knowledge and approval, however this part ofthe act has not gone into effect yet.
According to the text of the final regulation, there is specialprotection for psychotherapy notes. Those records are held to ahigher standard of protection because they are not part of themedical record and are never intended to be shared with anyoneelse. All other health information is considered to be sensitiveand is treated consistently under this rule.
"The legislation really tries to do for everyone's health statuswhat student privacy laws did for students," said Bargagliotti.
