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AARP: Strengthen I.T. Legislation
June 4, 2008
Congress should quickly pass legislation to encourage adoption of health care information technology and create a federal board to tackle related privacy issues, a representative of AARP testified on June 4 before the House Energy & Commerce subcommittee on health.
Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), leaders of the committee, recently issued draft I.T. legislation for comment (see story.
“For health I.T. to thrive, we need privacy rules that consumers can trust,” said Byron Thames, M.D., a board member of the Washington-based association that represents older Americans. “But we also need to be realistic and pragmatic. Simplistic approaches like requiring consent anytime records need to be shared may sound reasonable at first, but may be unworkable in practice, have unintended consequences like promoting blanket consents that weaken protections, be considered a ‘nuisance’ by some, and create a false sense of security. We need a package of privacy policies, such as limiting data collection and use, ensuring patients’ access to information, and providing rigorous user authentication and other appropriate mechanisms to address security.”
Consequently, AARP believes health I.T. legislation should establish a federal advisory board to develop “the bulk of needed privacy policies,” Thames testified. “This ensures openness and accountability in the development of recommendations for privacy rules. Given Congress’ long history of being unable to come to consensus on health privacy rules, this is probably the most prudent approach to advancing both privacy and health I.T.”
AARP, in Thames’ testimony, called the draft legislation from the Energy & Commerce Committee “thoughtfully crafted,” but with a gap that must be filled. “The Dingell-Barton discussion draft does not, in its present form, provide needed access to physician-specific Medicare claims data that is essential for identifying the most effective and efficient practice patterns,” Thames said. “Access to this data will help in crafting additional health reforms that bring runaway health care inflation under control without compromising quality. AARP is interested in working with the drafters to provide access to this vital information through the bill or address it in additional legislation as soon as possible.”
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