Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
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May 13, 1999, Thursday ,City Edition
SECTION: METRO/REGION; Pg. A30
LENGTH: 388 words
HEADLINE:
Lawmakers mull protection for medical records
BYLINE:
By Dolores Kong, Globe Staff
BODY:
A bill to protect the privacy of patients' medical records and punish violators
with up to $250,000 in fines and up to five years in prison
will be the subject of a State House hearing today.
With the
computerization of medical records and managed care making records more easily
accessible, the need for stronger privacy measures is clear, said Representative
Jay R. Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat.
"While we may think there are
protections, it's simply not true," said Kaufman, who sponsored the bill, along
with more than 60 state representatives and senators. He said he hopes the bill
will "close a lot of the privacy loopholes and send a signal to practitioners
and patients that we need to pay attention to privacy concerns in ways that we
simply have not been."
Among those expected to testify at the noontime
hearing in favor of the bill are representatives from the Massachusetts Medical
Society, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care,
the Coalition for Patient Confidentiality, the Massachusetts AIDS Task Force and
other professional organizations. Representatives from the offices of US Senator
Edward M. Kennedy and US Representative Edward J. Markey are also expected to
testify in support.
But Kaufman said he expects life insurance industry
officials to oppose the legislation as being overly restrictive at the hearing
before the Joint Health Care Committee.
Over the last two or three
years, officials from various organizations, including life insurers, have been
working as part of a legislatively created committee to hammer out a privacy
bill, said Kaufman.
The Kaufman bill joins legislation filed in other
states and in Washington to provide stronger privacy protections for patients.
The bill would require that patients give written consent before
information can be disclosed, that the information can be used only under
certain circumstances, and that there be an audit trail for the use of
computerized medical records.
It would also create a medical records
privacy ombudsman in the Department of Public Health and penalties of up to
$3,000 per violation, and up to $250,000 for a
pattern of violations. Intentional violation using false pretenses would lead to
penalties of up to $250,000 and five years' imprisonment.
LOAD-DATE: May 14, 1999 
