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September 20, 2005
Experts: Electronic medical records could have aided evacuees
A database of electronic medical records could have helped emergency medical workers care for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and would have resulted in fewer disruptions in evacuees' medical needs, according to speakers at the 11th National Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Summit, held Sept. 7-9 in Washington, D.C., and sponsored by the eHealth Initiative.
Many of the evacuees' original medical records, which were housed in health care providers' offices in areas affected by the storm, are currently inaccessible, and many likely were destroyed. As a result, emergency medical care providers are having trouble determining what medications evacuees were taking and in what dosages.
A database of electronic records "would have been useful" for emergency medical workers trying to administer care to people displaced by Katrina, said Susan McAndrew, senior adviser for HIPAA privacy policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Civil Rights.
Such a database would grant patients greater access to their medical records and would allow them to "become real partners with their physicians in managing their own health care," McAndrew added.
William R. Braithwaite, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the eHealth Initiative, who spoke at a previous session, told HR News there are lots of reasons for having an electronic database for medical records. One that has become especially apparent lately is that "water destroys paper."
However, unlike paper, an electronic system that is backed up appropriately can survive a disaster such as Katrina, Braithwaite said.
Of course, establishing privacy provisions would be a "main priority" in developing such a system, McAndrew said.
Braithwaite, known as "Dr. HIPAA" for the instrumental role he played in authoring the medical data privacy act as former senior adviser on health information policy for HHS, said it is his belief and the belief of the technical community that if electronic information is secured properly and access to the database is limited to the appropriate people, an electronic system actually "can be safer than paper" from a privacy perspective.
McAndrew noted during her presentation that HHS issued a bulletin after Katrina hit to assure providers that HIPAA's privacy rule is not meant to impede the process of caring for patients in the wake of a disaster. The bulletin, dated Sept. 2, states that health care providers and health plans covered by the HIPAA privacy rule can share patient information in the following ways:
- Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to provide treatment. This includes coordinating patient care with emergency relief workers or others who can help find patients appropriate health services. In addition, it includes referring patients for treatment, such as linking them with available providers in areas where the patients have relocated.
- Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to identify, locate and notify family members, guardians or anyone else responsible for the individual's care regarding the individual's location and condition. Health care providers should get verbal permission from the individual when possible.
- Providers can share patient information with anyone as necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public—consistent with applicable law and the provider’s standards of ethical conduct.
- Health care facilities maintaining a directory of patients can tell people who call or ask about individuals whether the individual is at the facility, their location in the facility and their general condition.
By Erin Binney
Posted by DocuVantage on September 20, 2005 09:37 AM
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