Health Privacy

Video: Robots and remote doctor visits -- telemedicine updates (CES 2015, interview, Double Robotics)

Telemedicine is rapidly advancing. The Mayo Clinic, Kaiser, and other health providers are already in testing to see how doctors can use sleek, rolling telemedicine robots to conduct remote patient interactions and allow for better visual diagnosing. In this video, the company Double Robotics walks us through how the robots look, move, and operate (via an iPad) and how they are already being used in clinical settings today.

Student Privacy 101: Health Privacy in Schools --What law applies?

Schools increasingly provide students with more health services. Health clinics, counselors on site, administration of drugs, and vaccinations are among the types of healthcare offered on school campuses ranging from kindergarten through graduate school. Given that schools may have sensitive health information, what law covers health record privacy for school records? The answer is important. It is also messy, because two laws can apply to this information. In some cases, no privacy law applies to the health records.

Some Californians receive emails from health insurer with personal details exposed: potential CalINDEX implications?

This week the New York Times reported that some California members of health insurer Anthem Blue Cross received disturbing emails with exposed subject lines related to their sensitive medical information. From the article: " But the emails’ subject lines included member-specific demographic details like age range and language. They also ...

WPF Universal Periodic Review Comments -- The Right to Health Privacy: Human Rights and the Surveillance and Interception of Medical and Health Records by Security Agencies

The World Privacy Forum provided an intervention for the Civil Society Consultation on the Universal Periodic Review of the United States recommending that health information should only be disclosed for national security purposes pursuant to a judicial warrant, and that there must be procedures under which record keepers can challenge ...

Video: Can I delete my files from a Health Information Exchange?

You can certainly ask to have your records deleted, but it may not be that easy. After a health record has been created and exchanged via an HIE, how your record is managed in that HIE is going to vary considerably. But generally speaking, it is rare for any health care provider to outright delete a health file.

Video: How to request all of your medical files from a health information exchange

HIE stands for “Health Information Exchange.” We encourage all patients to request a copy of their medical records to check for errors, whether in paper or digital format. Begin any process of HIE discovery with your health care provider. It will likely be your health care providers who are able to let you know if your records have been exchanged, and if so, where.

Video: Correcting and amending medical records in an HIE

HIE stands for “Health Information Exchange.” We encourage all patients to request a copy of their medical records and check for errors, whether on paper or digital. If you have received a copy of your medical record from your doctor and you find mistakes or errors, it is a good idea to correct those files as soon as possible with that health care provider. It's also important to see if incorrect information has been circulated into a Health Information Exchange, and get it corrected there as well. See more ….

Video: Do I have to give permission for my medical information to be in a Health Information Exchange? (Health Information Exchange Series)

This video is part 3 of a 14-part WPF video series on health privacy and health information exchanges. Many patients may be surprised to learn that a health care provider does not need your permission to share your medical information for treatment purposes within an HIE, just as a doctor does not need permission to send your records via fax to another doctor for treatment purposes. This is true even if your health record is going to a doctor you have never met before. See more ….

Video: HIE versus Fax… (Health Information Exchange Series)

This video is part 2 of a 14-part WPF video series on health privacy and health information exchanges. Doctors have been using fax machines to send and exchange patient records for years. We know that an HIE allows medical records to be shared electronically between health care providers. But how does an HIE differ — really — from faxes? What changes, beyond the obvious?

WPF Report -- Paying out of Pocket to Protect Health Privacy: A New but Complicated HIPAA Option; A Report on the HIPAA Right to Restrict Disclosure

This Jan. 30, 2014 report discusses a new right to restrict disclosure of health information under the updated HIPAA health privacy rule. The new provision called “Pay Out of Pocket,” also called the “Right to Restrict Disclosure” gives patients the right to request that their health care provider not report or disclose their information to their health plans when they pay for medical services in full. Navigating the new right will take effort and planning for patients to utilize effectively. This substance of this report is about the new patient right to restrict disclosure, and how patients can use it to protect health privacy.

Public Comments: November 2013 - WPF Comments on draft Genomic Data Sharing Policy (NIH)

WPF Comments on Genomic Data Sharing Policy for sharing, for research purposes, of large-scale human and nonhuman genomic data (NIH) Background: The National Institutes of Health published a draft Data Sharing Policy for human and non-human genomic data. The sharing is for research purposes. The World Privacy Forum comments focus ...

Complete 2013 Update to WPF's Landmark Patient's Guide to HIPAA

San Diego, CA -- The World Privacy Forum is very pleased to announce the publication of a major undertaking, the complete update and revision to our landmark Patient's Guide to HIPAA. The new guide reflects the changes in HIPAA that took effect September 23, 2013. The Patient's Guide to HIPAA is a landmark publication because it is the first and to our knowledge -- only complete guide written expressly for patients. It offers a roadmap through the thicket of dense health privacy laws and rules that many patients have questions about. The purpose of this guide is to help patients understand how to make health privacy laws work to protect their privacy. Longtime World Privacy Forum contributor Bob Gellman is primary author of the Guide, including the new version. Begin exploring the update at the HIPAA Guide Home: https://www.worldprivacyforum.org/2013/09/hipaaguidehome/ .

Health Information Exchanges in California

WPF's new interactive map identifies Health Information Exchanges in California. A Health Information Exchange, or HIE, is technology that enables the electronic movement of health-related information among health care providers and others. HIEs are an increasingly popular way for hospitals, pharmacies, labs, and emergency room physicians to share patient information. HIEs can exchange records across one hospital, across multiple hospitals in a region, or across a whole state. If your health information is being shared through an HIE, your lab test results, medications, medical history, or other clinical information related to your health care may be included in the sharing. See more about HIEs and our California HIE Map here.