Official: Panel wants privacy protection for
electronic medical records

A federal advisory panel on patient privacy wants encryption, strong access controls and audits to protecting patients' medical records under the program advanced by the economic stimulus law, according to the co-chair of the group.

“The data will be encrypted and not set for easy access,” Steven Findlay, co-chair of the Health Information Technology Standards Committee’s Privacy and Security Workgroup, told Federal Computer Week July 23. “There will be a focus on access controls and audits.”

Under the economic stimulus law, the Obama administration and Congress are offering at least $17 billion in payments to doctors’ offices and hospitals that adopt and "meaningfully" use certified electronic health records (EHRs). Congress set up the Health IT Standards Committee to recommend standards for certification and meaningful use.