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Physician versus Lobbyist

By Darrell K. Pruitt; DDS

On March 23, 2010 Dr. Deborah Peel, a psychiatrist in private practice and the founder of Patient Privacy Rights (www.patientprivacyrights.org) posted an opinion piece titled: “Your Medical Records Aren’t Secure” in the Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580904575132111888664060.html

Her still popular article soon picked up 217 comments – reflecting respectable interest in the conundrum. Since then, her message of caution has gained momentum on the Internet in the security industry, and has even spilled over into appearances on Fox News, MSNBC and PBS in the last week.

Dr. Peel’s Case

Dr. Peel argues that even though the President claims digital health records will reduce costs and improve quality, they could undermine safe and effective care if patients become afraid to confide in their doctors.

“The solution is to insist upon technologies that protect a patient’s right to consent to share any personal data. A step in this direction is to demand that no federal stimulus dollars be used to develop electronic systems that do not have these technologies.”

It is easy to understand why Dr. Peel’s opinions draw the ire of HIT stakeholders both inside and outside government.

Dr. Peel concludes:

“Privacy has been essential to the ethical practice of medicine since the time of Hippocrates in fifth century B.C. The success of health-care reform and electronic record systems requires the same foundation of informed consent patients have always had with paper records systems. But if we squander billions on a health-care system no one trusts, millions will seek treatment outside the system or not at all. The resulting data, filled with errors and omissions, will be worth less than the paper it isn’t written on.” 

Dr. Peel is currently on a campaign to encourage Americans to sign her “Do not disclose” petition.

http://patientprivacyrights.org/do-not-disclose/

HIT Stakeholders Speak Up

Recently, the Wall Street Journal featured an opposing opinion to Dr. Peel’s in an article titled “Industry Rep Calls Patient Privacy ‘Overblown’ Worry”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094104575144110418562490.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Darticle

Ms. Grealy’s Case

Mary R. Grealy, President of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of chief executives from the health-care industry, posted her objections to Dr. Peel’s warnings about the dangers of digital records versus paper:

“Dr. Peel seeks to frighten people into believing electronic health records are more vulnerable than paper ones, which is not the case. She fails to acknowledge the important role of the HIPAA in protecting health information, or the extraordinary steps hospitals, health plans and physicians have taken to assure confidentiality. Building upon HIPAA, federal laws adopted this year strongly encourage encryption of data included in electronic health records and have imposed new criminal and civil penalties for violating an individual’s privacy.” 

“More importantly, though, if Dr. Peel’s prescription for this hyperbolic problem were to be followed, it’s actually our health that will be less secure. Burdening patients with the responsibility of deciding what health information should be divulged and what should be shielded from medical professionals brings an infinite array of possible consequences. Would the average patient know what information a surgeon needs in order to perform a complex procedure? It’s highly doubtful”.

“In a broader sense, draconian restrictions on the essential flow of medical information would have society-wide repercussions. It would affect the ability of public health officials to report and track incidences of disease. It would undermine the Food and Drug Administration’s capability to monitor the quality and safety of medical products, and product recalls would be hampered”.

“Perhaps most importantly, medical research into lifesaving cures and treatments would be severely hindered by restricted access to health information. Stymieing the necessary transfer of data contained in one diagnosis, one prescription or one lab test could mean the difference between life and death. That is a very high price to pay in order to address overblown privacy concerns”.

Mary R. Grealy

[Washington]

_____________________________________

Assessment

Mary Grealy doesn’t have a petition to sign.

Whereas Dr. Peel turns to patients for support, Ms. Grealy, President of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a coalition of chief executives from the health-care industry, turns to Washington.

Conclusion

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Filed under: Ethics, Health Insurance, Health Law & Policy, Information Technology, Point-Counter Point, Pruitt's Platform, Risk Management | Tagged: Darrell Pruitt, Deborah Peel, EHRs, EMRs, FDA, Healthcare Leadership Council, HIPAA, HIT, Mary R. Grealy | 12 Comments »