HIPAA Privacy Rule Impedes Health Research
The Institute of Medicine last week released a report, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health through Research (www.iom.edu/CMS/3740/43729/61796.aspx). The report concludes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule impedes health research and does not provide enough protection for patient information. The committee recommends a new uniform approach to protecting information used in research separate from the HIPAA privacy rule regardless of the source of funding. If national policy makers continue to rely on the HIPAA Privacy Rule, updates are recommended to improve the rule and provide guidance on compliance. There is a report brief available on the website that outlines the proposed changes.