The use of scare tactics to undermine health reform continues. Fox News suggested this week that efforts to expand the use of electronic medical records raise concerns "about government access to Americans' medical history ... and what the government will do once it has access to Americans' medical history."
Adhering to its "fair and balanced" credo, Fox buttressed its claim by citing an opinion piece, Your Medical Records Aren't Secure, published in the Wall Street Journal. Fox News and WSJ are owned by News Corporation.
Concerns about privacy are valid, but the report failed to mention that the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes the most significant changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's privacy and security rules since the law's enactment in 1996. Those tough new standards, collectively known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, require more fastidious accounting of health data and demand greater accountability from individuals and organizations that handle, use or transmit electronically stored personal health information.
At the time, privacy activists championed the new requirements as a boon to the security of electronic health data.
John Pulley
John Pulley has written the Health IT Update blog since May 2011. Prior to becoming a regular contributor to Nextgov, he covered technology for Federal Computer Week and Government Health IT magazines. He has written about government for Federal Times and Air Force Times, as well. Pulley has worked in journalism for more than 20 years. He began his career covering local government for regional newspapers. In addition, he served as a writer and senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education for seven years. In 2006, he founded The Pulley Group, an editorial services agency.
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