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IEEE-USA Opposes Government Proposal 
Eroding Medical Privacy

Washington (9 May 2002) — The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should not adopt a rule allowing health care providers to share confidential medical records without patient consent, according to IEEE-USA.

IEEE-USA President LeEarl Bryant, in comments filed with the HHS' Office of Civil Rights, speaks out against the proposed March 27 rule change to HHS' "Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information." Currently, a patient has to grant written consent for a medical provider to share personal medical information among physicians and other medical professionals for Treatment, Payment and health care Operations (TPO).

"IEEE-USA is concerned about the unintended consequences of removing the mandatory consent regulation as a means to enhance efficient record sharing," Bryant said. "We believe the regulation would erode consumer confidence and lessen the benefits of the proposed changes, rather than providing a more efficient system."

The IEEE-USA Medical Technology Policy Committee (MTPC) recommends that individuals should retain control over the release of sensitive health information except for narrow cases such as emergency treatment, including prescriptions a patient might be taking.

Frank Ferrante, MTPC chair, thinks the HHS proposal could hurt health care quality.

"We believe this will pose a threat to the public's willingness to undergo clinical testing," Ferrante said. "Without the ability of individuals to control the dissemination of personal health information, consumers may be discouraged from having tests that may lead to early detection of disease and reduced treatment costs."

IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 235,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical professional society. For more
information, go to http://www.ieeeusa.org.

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Last Updated: 24 April 2002
Staff Contact:  Chris McManes, c.mcmanes@ieee.org