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MA-HISPC Overview
Phase 1 MA-HISPC Project Background
Phase 2 MA-HISPC Consent Management Project
What's Happening in Massachusetts
Coming Soon - Roundtable Discussion
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MA-HISPC Overview - EHR Privacy & Security
How will Clinicians Share Your Health Records Electronically,
And Keep them Private and Secure?
The Role of the Consortium
President Bush’s call for all Americans to have electronic health records by 2014 has
fueled many advances in healthcare technology. Today, technologies help your physician
to order and calculate the proper dosing of medications, send electronic prescriptions
to your pharmacist, share your x-rays online with consulting specialists and in some
communities, immediately access your full medical history when you arrive unexpectedly
at an emergency room.
The Massachusetts Health Data Consortium is a nationally recognized leader of collaborative
healthcare IT projects that are revolutionizing the delivery of patient care. Each project
is carefully guided by representatives from all healthcare stakeholders in the State,
including: primary care physicians, specialists, consumers, nurses, payers, pharmacists, researchers,
administrators, IT directors and patients.
This unique "neutral convener" role allows the Consortium to build innovative, practical and
trusted solutions. See
What’s Happening in Massachusetts
for summary of these projects.
Tackling Patient Privacy and Security
Federal privacy
laws, most notably the Privacy Act of 1974 and HIPAA, form the legal foundation for privacy
and security in the healthcare sector, however, variation in state laws and requirements for
obtaining patient consent for the disclosure of information complicate the design for electronic
health networks. These laws were created for a paper-based healthcare world, not the brave
new world of digital healthcare.
In March of 2006, the Commonwealth designated the Consortium to carry out important work
around patient privacy rights and the impact of digital health information.
As the designee, the Consortium joined a national effort in May of 2006, funded by the federal government,
to study privacy and security policy questions, regulations and business practices. The final
outcome of this year-long effort not only shined a bright light on emerging privacy and security
issues when data becomes digital, but also generated detailed solutions, best practices and
suggested implementation plans. See
the Consortium’s HISPC Phase 1
outcomes.
A second phase of this national project is currently underway and concludes in December of 2007.
In this second phase, the Consortium will deeply examine the process of patient consent and
how this process can be managed electronically to facilitate proper and appropriate disclosures
of digital health information. The Consortium expects this work to produce a roadmap for a
technical pilot demonstration project in Massachusetts.
Overall, the Consortium is involved in these efforts because its members firmly believe that
patient privacy and security rights must be thoughtfully examined and updated to encompass
digital forms of health data, but most certainly should not interfere or delay the future
development of health networks that bring higher quality of care and efficiency to the citizens
of the Commonwealth.
More Information
Since 1978, the Consortium has been acting as a convener, educator, project manager and
provider of reliable information. Fulfilling the role of educator, the Consortium will
post outcomes, reports and roadmaps from its privacy and security work on this webpage.
For additional MA-HISPC Project information, please contact Diane Stone,
Project Manager, MA-HISPC Project via
e-mail. We welcome your further questions & look forward
to your participation in our work and our events!
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