HIT Policy Committee OKs Amendments to Legal Record
The HIT Policy Committee on July 6 approved two recommendations from its Privacy and Security Tiger Team on new electronic health records capabilities to document amendments and corrections to patients’ legal medical records.
The HIT Policy Committee on July 6 approved two recommendations from its Privacy and Security Tiger Team on new electronic health records capabilities to document amendments and corrections to patients' legal medical records. The recommendations are:
1. Certified EHR Technology should have the capability in Meaningful Use Stage 2 to support amendments to health information, and in particular to support a provider's compliance with HIPAA obligations to respond to patient requests for amendments. Specifically, the systems should make it technically possible for providers to:
a. Make amendments to a patient's health information in a way that is consistent with the entity's obligation with respect to the legal medical record (i.e., there should be the ability to access/view the original data and to identify any changes to it).
b. Append information from the patient and any rebuttal from the entity regarding disputed data.
2. Certified EHR technology should have the ability by Meaningful Use Stage 3 to transmit amendments, updates or appended information to other providers to whom the data in question has been previously transmitted.
The Tiger Team's four-page report is available here.
1. Certified EHR Technology should have the capability in Meaningful Use Stage 2 to support amendments to health information, and in particular to support a provider's compliance with HIPAA obligations to respond to patient requests for amendments. Specifically, the systems should make it technically possible for providers to:
a. Make amendments to a patient's health information in a way that is consistent with the entity's obligation with respect to the legal medical record (i.e., there should be the ability to access/view the original data and to identify any changes to it).
b. Append information from the patient and any rebuttal from the entity regarding disputed data.
2. Certified EHR technology should have the ability by Meaningful Use Stage 3 to transmit amendments, updates or appended information to other providers to whom the data in question has been previously transmitted.
The Tiger Team's four-page report is available here.