We urge that the administration proposal conform to both the letter and spirit of the Jaffee decision and that the consent requirement in the proposal apply to information that is needed for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Revise Section 164.506. Overly broad physician liability provisions must be reconsidered to reduce the liability and burden on physicians who, themselves, are complying with the regulation's requirements. Thank you for considering my views. Additional protections are critically needed to insure that doctors can provide the highest quality medical care available.
Patient consent is required today before the disclosure of medical records.
In order to insure that no existing privacy protections are lost, it is critically important that the disclosure of medical records continues to require patient consent. Under the Clinton proposal, no patient consent is required for these categories of disclosures. Also, the proposed rule's provisions on psychotherapy notes do not provide the level of privacy protection needed for the highest quality health care. Finally, additional privacy protections are needed to prevent disclosures of records in civil and criminal legal proceedings and for inclusion in government data bases. Once again I urge you to contact Secretary Shalala asking her to add privacy protections to her proposal and to retain the important protections already included within her proposals.