Federal advisory panel approves HIT privacy and security recommendations

In a meeting held June 25, the HIT Policy Committee approved recommendations by the Privacy and Security Tiger Team that would establish health information exchange credentials and help to protect personal health information.

The 15-member panel of experts comprising the Tiger Team was formed in early June by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and was assigned the task of addressing urgent privacy and security issues. Members of the Tiger Team include HIT Policy Committee members, HIT Standards Committee members, as well as members of the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. The HIT Policy Committee unanimously approved the Tiger Team's recommendations to establish digital exchange credentials that include verifying a provider's identity and allowing providers to delegate the verification process to authorized credentialing service providers. The panel also approved recommendations that would provide physicians, hospitals and the public with some reassurance that credentialing is being delegated to a trustworthy organization.