Advisory Panel OKs Privacy Standards

张琨

Advisory Panel OKs Privacy StandardsHDM Breaking News, September 16, 2009
The HIT Standards Committee, a federal advisory panel created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has approved recommendations of its privacy and security workgroup. That moves the recommendations one step closer to being final, although they still face several more hurdles.

The recommendations provide technical data standards and guidelines to support privacy and security requirements under the law's meaningful use provisions for certified electronic health record systems. They also clarify where options exist, such as where dual standards are required or an implementer is given a choice between Standard A and Standard B.

Recommendations of the HIT Standards Committee and the HIT Policy Committee are transmitted to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The recommendations will help ONC and other officials of the Department of Health and Human Services as they develop rules to define meaningful use of EHRs and implement Medicaid and Medicaid incentive programs under the stimulus law.

The adopted privacy and security recommendations are available at http://healthit.hhs.gov. Click on Federal Advisory Committees, then Health IT Standards Committee, then scroll down to the Sept. 15 meeting documents.