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Date: Thursday, Sept. 11, 1997  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343            

Shalala Urges Congress to Protect Americans' Personal Medical Records

Releasing a report to Congress with recommendations for legislation, Secretary Shalala said, "Americans shouldn't have to trade in their privacy rights to get quality health care."

"We have federal laws that protect the privacy of video records, motor vehicle records, and credit cards. Yet the way we protect our most sacred family secrets, our medical records, is erratic at best -- and dangerous at worst," Shalala said. "We must act now with national legislation to address this serious threat."

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, HHS was asked to develop recommendations to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our health care records. Secretary Shalala presented the recommendations today in testim ony before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.

Secretary Shalala asked Congress to enact federal legislation which would provide important new rights for patients and define responsibilities and limitations for those who need to have access to these medical records. By establishing a basic na tional standard of protection, there will be clear guidance and significant incentives for the fair treatment of personal information by those in the health care field, and there will be real penalties for misuse, Shalala said. Among the provisions which were proposed in the Secretary's report:

• Organizations that are entrusted with health information must protect it against deliberate or inadvertent misuse or disclosure. Security measures should be required to protect the information against improper use by employees, or threats from outside. Organizations hired by providers and payers to process information and complete other tasks should also be bound.

• Those who provide and pay for health care should be required to give patients a clear written explanation of how they will use, keep, and disclose information. Patients would be able to see and get copies of their records, and propose correct ions. A history of most disclosures would have to be maintained, and be made accessible to patients.

• There should be punishment for those who misuse personal health information, and redress for people who are harmed by its misuse

Currently, the use and disclosure of health information is protected by only limited federal law and a patchwork of state laws. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services t o impose confidentiality controls on electronic transaction systems if Congress does not legislate on confidentiality by August 1999.