December 04, 2006

Computers Are Hazardous to Health Record Privacy

Bill Clinton's identity was hidden behind a false name when he went to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital two years ago for heart surgery, but that didn’t stop computer hackers, including people working at the hospital, from trying to get a peek at the electronic records of his medical charts. Powerful forces are lobbying hard for government and private programs that could push the nation’s costly and inefficient health care system into the computer age. But the legislation has bogged down, largely because of differences over how to balance the health care industry’s interest in efficiently collecting, studying and using data with privacy concerns for tens of millions of ordinary Americans.

Health Hazard: Computers Spilling Your History, New York Times, December 3, 2006.