Medical privacy rules to take effect

By Christy Feig
CNN Medical Unit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first federal rules to protect the privacy of patients' medical information will go into effect on Saturday, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Thursday.

The rules, proposed by President Bill Clinton before he left office, will undergo some modifications over time, according to Thompson. The vast majority are good, Thompson said, but there are several areas in the rules the Bush administration thinks are too strict and will make medical care cumbersome.

Thompson said the way the rules are currently written, patients would have to give written consent before their health care providers could talk about test results and decide how to treat them; sick patients would have to give written consent before another family member or friend could pick up their prescriptions; and the industry would have to change its computer system to comply with the rules, which would cost excessive amounts.

Thompson said written consent is necessary for releasing medical information, but shouldn't be for doctors to talk about test results and for other people to pick up prescriptions for a patient.

The rules require patients to give written consent before their medical information can be given out.

In a statement, President Bush said he has directed Thompson to come up with recommendations to address "concerns" raised about the new regulation. "I recognize that legitimate concerns have been raised about the current rule, which I share, such as parents' concern that the rule limits their right to have access to their children's medical records," he said.

Bush also applauded the new rule, saying it will mean that "for the first time" patients will have "full access to their medical records and more control over how their personal information will be used and disclosed."

"This rule makes sure that private health information doesn't fall victim to the progress of the information and technology age," Thompson said, "where an array of data is readily available in computer systems and too often just a keystroke away from being assessed."

The rule covers all kinds of records: electronic, paper and oral.

Among other things, the final rules allow a patient to review his or her records and make changes if necessary.

According to law, the health care industry has two years to comply with the rules. So providers must be in compliance by April 15, 2003, according to Thompson.

The White House said HHS has a one year time frame to issue modifications for the new rule.

The 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) gave Congress three years to pass comprehensive health privacy legislation. If Congress failed to act within the three years, the law required the Secretary of HHS to write the regulations. Congress failed to pass legislation so the Clinton administration wrote these regulations and issued them shortly before Clinton left office.

The regulations were originally scheduled to go into effect in February, but the Clinton administration failed to do an administrative step which delayed them from going into effect until April 14.

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