Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With New Rules To Give Patients Better Access To Own Records, CMS Takes Aim At 'Electronic Silos' That Keep Health Data Separated
The Wall Street Journal: New Rules Could Ease Patients’ Access To Their Own Health Records
The Trump administration is proposing steps aimed at improving patients’ access to their own health data, bolstering efforts to bring information including insurance claims, hospital and doctor records to digital devices such as smartphones. Federal health regulators unveiled two major proposed regulations closely watched by health and technology companies, amid a growing flood of health data that has become an ever-more-valuable asset. (Wilde Mathews, 2/11)
Modern Healthcare: HHS' Proposed Interoperability Rules To Increase EHR Access
CMS on Monday released proposed rules that require many types of insurers to provide electronic health data in a standard format by 2020. In two long-anticipated rules, the CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology proposed requiring healthcare providers and insurers to implement open data-sharing technology to ensure data can move from one plan to another, potentially by way of patient apps. (King, 2/11)
The New York Times: A.I. Shows Promise As A Physician Assistant
This year, one in every twenty Americans will walk into a medical clinic and receive the wrong diagnosis. That’s more than 10 million people, and for half of them, the misdiagnosis could be harmful, a 2014 study in the British Medical Journal concluded. Doctors try to be systematic when identifying illness and disease, but they’re only human. Bias creeps in. Alternatives are overlooked. (Metz, 2/11)
And in more news on electronic health records —
Reuters: U.S. Citizen Who Leaked Singapore HIV-Cases May Have More 'Files'
A U.S. citizen who leaked the names of more than 14,000 HIV-positive individuals in Singapore may be in possession of more "files" from the database, the city-state's health minister said on Tuesday. The news follows outrage last month after Singapore disclosed the leak by Mikhy Farrera Brochez, who was deported last year after being convicted on numerous drug-related and fraud offences, including lying about his own HIV status. (2/12)
Nashville Tennessean: HIV: Feds End Investigation Into Potential Breach Of Patient Info
Federal investigators have closed an investigation into a potential breach of a HIV patient list in Nashville after concluding it was unlikely that anyone inappropriately accessed the private information of patients. But the investigation did not conclude exhaustively that the information didn’t leak, leaving a shred of doubt for an HIV-positive community that remains terrified of being outed by others. The identities and private information of thousands of Tennessee HIV patients became exposed two years ago after the Metro Nashville Public Health Department inadvertently placed a confidential list of patients, intended to be used by only a few scientists, on a computer server accessible to about 500 employees. (Kelman, 2/11)
In other news, some workers are not pleased with the new trend of employers tracking their health statistics —
The Wall Street Journal: Your Company Wants To Know If You’ve Lost Weight
Across the U.S., more employers are handing out activity trackers and rolling out high-tech wellness programs that aim to keep closer tabs on workers’ exercise, sleep and nutrition, and ultimately cut ballooning health-care costs. Disney, Whole Foods and dozens of other companies have introduced programs to reward employees for meeting certain criteria on health indicators such as weight-to-height ratio and blood pressure. (Chen, 2/11)
