Study: States making headway on HIE privacy

Most states have made progress in establishing privacy and security standards for HIEs over the past 18 months, according to a new study. The study, which came from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Agency for healthcare Research and Quality, said that over the past year and a have, 33 states and Puerto Rico have begun to get their arms around practices, policies and laws affecting HIEs. For example, 11 states have seen legislative activity on health data privacy, and four have passed related laws. Meanwhile, seven state collaborative work groups cutting across 43 states and two territories are working on shared privacy and security solutions.

All told, it sounds like not much of substance has happened--generally speaking, this sounds like more talk than action--but it's clear that data privacy and security issues have a higher profile in state policy-making bodies and agencies than than they did a couple of years ago. Now, the question is when all of these efforts will reach critical mass.

To learn more about ONC's report:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece

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