World Privacy Forum and EFF submit comments on AHRQ plan for national healthcare database World Privacy Forum Skip to Content Javascript must be enabled for the correct page display Home Connect With Us: twitter Vimeo email Main Navigation Hot Topics

World Privacy Forum and EFF submit comments on AHRQ plan for national healthcare database

AHRQ databases medical privacy — In June, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published a request for information about its plan to create a “public/private” national database of healthcare information tentatively called the “National Health Data Stewardship entity.” WPF and EFF raised questions about ownership and management of the proposed database (Would this database fall under HIPAA? Would it fall under the Privacy Act of 1974?), questions about identifiability of patients in the database, and suggested that a full-time, independent privacy officer should be established for the program from the inception of the planning stages. The comments also discussed the numerous questions relating to data security (including medical identity theft) and data quality, as well as consent, access, and opt-out procedures for patients that the proposed national database raises.

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