New Health Privacy Resource — The Patient’s Guide to HIPAA is the first comprehensive guide to medical privacy written expressly for patients with a practical eye as to how to use the law to protect privacy. It is a major privacy resource for patients, written directly and without legalese. The Patient’s Guide to HIPAA is
“This guide is not just a retread of what HIPAA is and does,” said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. “Our guide gives patients practical details and strategies on how they can use the law to protect their privacy and navigate the medical system. Best of all, it is easy to use.”
PHRs have been promoted in recent years as being an empowering panacea of benefits for consumers, but there has been little meaningful discussion of the complex and serious privacy issues PHRs can raise. For example, very few consumers know that not all PHRs are protected by HIPAA, the federal privacy rule that applies to medical files held at, for example, hospitals.
New publication | PHRs and privacy — The World Privacy Forum has published a new legal and policy analysis examining Personal Health Records — or PHRs — and the privacy issues associated with them. This analysis, Personal Health Records: Why Many PHRs Threaten Privacy, was prepared by Robert Gellman for the World Privacy Forum. The analysis finds that significant, serious threats to privacy exist in some PHRs.
Version 1: October 16, 2007 The World Privacy Forum, as part of its ongoing in-depth research into medical identity theft issues and responses, has outlined 8 best-practice responses to the crime by the health care sector. These best practices are based on interviews with victims, providers, and other stakeholders. These 8 best practices are