White House calls for relaxed health privacy rules

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration has proposed changing the rules that protect the privacy of a patient's medical records.

The plan would loosen a provision that requires doctors, hospitals and other providers to get written consent for patients before using or releasing medical information for treatment.

The proposed changes were described in a written statement Thursday from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who said the move would "allow us to deliver strong protections for personal medical information while improving access to care."

But Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy had harsh words for the move. "The administration seems to be opting in favor of the companies and corporations at the expense of individuals and, in this case, individual's privacy," he said today from the Senate floor.

The statement from Thompson said the requirement for prior consent on privacy practices has caused "serious unintended consequences," such as requiring patients to visit a pharmacy to sign a consent form before a prescription could be filled. Also, doctors could refuse to treat patients who refused to sign their privacy consent form.

"To fix these problems, the proposal would promote access to care by removing the consent requirements for treatment, payment and health care operations that would interfere with efficient delivery of health care, while strengthening requirements for providers to notify patients about their privacy rights and practices.

"Patients would be asked to acknowledge the privacy notice, but doctors and other providers could treat them if they did not," according to the HHS.

But Kennedy said, "the decision by the administration to effectively recommend that we wipe away the most important protection that individuals have and that is their ability to say 'no, we will not share the information that is in my medical records'."

The present rules date back to privacy standards developed during the Clinton administration and were to be fully implemented by April 2004.

Also under the new proposal, medical providers and the benefits industry would be able to use a common and simplified consent form, and agree among themselves to comply with the privacy provisions Thompson has proposed.

The changes would also relax rules covering discussions about a patient's care among doctors and other professionals, such as insurance officials. The HHS statement says current rules create the possibility of a violation for such conversations without the patient's prior consent.

The plan would preserve a standard limiting such disclosure to the "minimum necessary." Also, it would assure proper access for parents of their children's records. The statement says the present rules "may have unintentionally limited" a parent's access to a child's medical records.

The proposal prohibits the use of patient records for marketing by pharmacies, drug companies, health plans and others without a patient's explicit authorization.

"These are commonsense revisions that eliminate serious obstacles to patients getting needed care and services quickly while continuing to protect patients' privacy. For example, sick patients will not be forced to visit the pharmacy themselves to pick up prescriptions -- and could send a family member or friend instead. Doctors will be able to consult with nurses and others involved in a patient's care to ensure that they get the best care," Thompson said.

The rule-making process involves a 30-day public comment period after the detailed proposal is published in the Federal Register, set for March 27.

Based on comments, HHS would then issue a final ruling.