Jack McCarthy

To make it easier for people to gain access to their personal health information, the U.S. Department Health and Human Services had posted some clarifications about individuals' right under HIPAA privacy rules. “Unfortunately, based on recent studies and our own enforcement experience, far too often individuals face obstacles to accessing their health information, even from entities required to comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule,” Jocelyn Samuels, HHS director of the Office for Civil Rights wrote. “This must change.”  HHS explained that the “Privacy Rule requires HIPAA covered entities (health plans and most health care providers) to provide individuals, upon request, with access to the protected health information about them in one or more ‘designated record sets’ maintained by or for the covered entity,” HHS said. ”This includes the right to inspect or obtain a copy, or both, of the PHI, as well as to direct the covered entity to transmit a copy to a designated person or entity of the individual’s choice.”  [Also: HHS to change HIPAA rule on gun background checks] What’s more, that right exists for as long as the provider or a business associate maintains the PHI and regardless if they do so on paper or via electronic health records. HHS defines a ‘designated record set as medical and billing records as well as enrollment, payment or claims information as well as other data “used to make decisions about any individuals,” the agency said. “The term ‘record’ means any item, collection or grouping of information that includes PHI and is maintained, collected, used or disseminated by or for a covered entity,” HHS said. The evolution in healthcare toward rapid, secure exchange of Electronic Health Records data along with targeted treatments via the precision medicine model of patient-engaged research has made it more important for individuals to quickly access to their health information. However, this process has been slow developing, Samuels said. To that end, HHS published a fact sheet and the first in a series of Frequently Asked Questions to clarify. The initial FAQ addresses the scope of information covered by HIPAA’s access right, the limited exceptions to this right, the form and format in which information is provided, the requirement to provide access to individuals in a timely manner, and the intersection of HIPAA’s right of access with the requirements for patient access under the HITECH Act’s Electronic Health Record Incentive Program. [Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook] Samuels said HHS will develop additional guidance and other tools to help individuals understand and exercise their right to access their health information. Other consumer access tools are being developed by the Office for Civil Rights, working with the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Samuels added. Twitter: @HealthITNews

Healthcare practices used on the International Space Station are serving as model for caring for people in some of the most deprived and isolated parts of the world, according to an article published last month in the World Health Organization. Several of the systems used to ensure healthcare for astronauts working in cramped and isolated space station have been studied and implemented in undeveloped areas, Alfred Papali, MD, wrote in “Providing healthcare in rural and remote areas: lessons from the International Space Station.” Papali, with the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, shows how the space station astronauts ensure their health while circumnavigating the globe in space by employing three essential services — task-shifting, point-of-care ultrasound and telemedicine services. NASA has mitigated the risk of medical emergencies aboard the space station by training the crew medical officer and by using on-board ultrasound and an Earth-based telemedicine consultation. Space flight, though, presents several challenges, such as engineering and space constraints, limited bandwidth for data transmission, a lack of advanced diagnostic equipment and the absence of a physician. How space station crewmembers overcome these challenges may present a model to Earth-bound programs. For space flight task-shifting, a crew medical officer receives about 60 hours of preflight training, similar to the level of a paramedic in the United States. The WHO cited task-shifting as a key element in cost-effective access to antiretroviral medications, and  nurse practitioners and physician assistants are providing a wide variety of medical services where doctors are scarce, Papali wrote. Additionally, NASA-funded studies in remote locations around the world have had a direct impact on the development of the space station’s ultrasound program. Likewise, the space station’s extensive use of telemedicine is leading to advances of the technology on Earth. Medical data and ultrasound images are routinely transmitted to ground-based flight surgeons for diagnostic and training purposes. Data transmission is not continuous, however, and as in the developing world the connection can be very slow or completely absent. Judicious use of limited technological resources is necessary in any location, Papali wrote. To address this issue, just-in-time educational modules have enabled crewmembers to perform complex ultrasound examinations despite the time lag in communications between the space station and the ground. “These modules could be adapted to terrestrial environments with limited connectivity,” Papali explained. “In addition, NASA has tested virtual remote guidance (i.e. recorded instructional videos for use by crew members using wearable technology) as a means of overcoming connectivity barriers; this technique will soon be used in Haiti to study remote guidance of endotracheal intubation.” It is worth noting also that health services developed and used in space differ in important ways from those used on Earth. “The great challenge for emergency care on Earth will be whether such services can be developed across diverse and fragmented health systems in a coordinated fashion to optimize outcomes, reduce costs and minimize duplication,” Papali wrote. Nonetheless, the services developed for the spaced station can show the way from continued innovation in health services. Twitter: @HealthITNews

The money allocated to VistA comes within $6 billion in discretionary spending for projects including cutting its huge backlog of disability claims

Malpractice suits can have such a severe impact that more than half of physicians admit that the threat of a lawsuit influences their thinking and action with every patient.

Patients are growing weary of having to carry their records from one provider to the next and many are evaluating whether or not doctors use technologies to communicate with them when choosing a new physician.

The project aims to create standards and security while improving patient safety and care quality.

A pilot program at Vanderbilt University and VA found that patients, nearly three-quarter of whom preferred telehealth, received the same quality of care via video and phone as those who came into the hospital.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released a draft of the 2016 Interoperability Standards Advisory for public comment. It contains updates to the advisory's structure and content based on input from the public and the Health IT Standards Committee.

Recent research has found that sending patients a text message encouraging healthy behaviors reduces smoking rates and improves weight loss when compared to a group that did not receive the texts.

Computerized psychotherapies hold great interest for veterans receiving outpatient treatment, according to a study published in Telemedicine and e-Health.