Health record haste sparks privacy fears

The economic stimulus law is creating privacy risks as it forces fast development of electronic health records, according to at least one privacy advocate. The Privacy and Security Workgroup of the Health and Human Services Department's Health Information Technology Standards Committee presented its recommendations to the committee on July 21. It included a framework of 37 standards to be implemented in phases in 2011, 2013 and 2015. But Dr Deborah Peel, founder of the Coalition for Patient Privacy, said the proposals postpone several major privacy protections until 2015 even though the bulk of the health IT implementations will begin in 2011.