For health organizations that rely heavily on outside services, the consent and authorization requirement is going to be a headache for risk managers, according to Sue Dill, an attorney with Mount Caramel College of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, limited access may encourage more claims to be settled rather than wait for certain clearances for medical data, Mr. Thompson noted. In terms of healthcare costs, insurers compelled to go through additional channels and process more paperwork to obtain medical information in compliance with the privacy rules might pass the extra costs onto consumers via higher premiums, Mr. Thompson warned. While healthcare risk managers have always faced the potential for liability in mishandling medical records, using modern technology in transferring information has indeed raised concerns toward inappropriate access to sensitive information, observed Jeff Driver, risk manager with Children s Hospital and Health Center in San Diego. Yet, computer technology has altered the risk of unauthorized access to private and privileged medical information.
Access is virtually invisible and thus the concern is quite legitimate.
Technical security measures employed by most healthcare providers and information systems can only provide a certain level of protection for data and information collected and stored in the system. Thus, the use of computers in medicine creates corporate as well as individual legal and moral obligations. The healthcare risk manager must therefore be vigilant in setting policy, procedure and practice within an organization, as well as developing a corporate culture that regards the private information of its patients as one of its very highest priorities. While the new medical privacy rules might be difficult to implement at first, they are not necessarily counterproductive, according to Ms. Amori. Frequent requests for medical data by insurers, specialists and healthcare organizations all raise the risk of a breach of privacy, unlike years ago when the healthcare system was not as complex and not nearly as high-tech, she added.