This is an individual liberty issue more than purely a medical one.
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas As medical offices and hospitals transfer their files to digital records and more local health information exchanges are created we must be sure that our right to privacy keeps up with technology said State Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) after her bill HB 300 banning the for-profit sale of personal health information by setting up a process to notify patients of their medical records electronic transfer passed the Texas House.
Kolkhorsts proposal received unanimous bipartisan support by House members and now heads to the Senate where a similar but less-restrictive medical privacy bill has also been passed.
Our medical records are perhaps our most sensitive and private information. Its something that should only be used for your health and well-being not to be collected and sold Kolkhorst said.
As Chair of the House Committee on Public Health Kolkhorst has said tougher privacy protections has been one of her committees top priorities for the 2011
legislative session.
Under the Kolkhorst bill companies or health providers who break the rules and sell medical data would be subject to heightened fines up to $3000 per violation and legal damages up to $1.5 million.
National privacy advocates such as Dr. Deborah Peel of the Coalition for Patient Privacy say HB 300 is a vast improvement over federal laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) going further to protect Texas patients from those who would illicitly collect sell or misuse health data.
Supporters during testimony said the bill would be landmark legislation predicting that Texas could lead the nation in setting the bar for privacy standards. The bill also gained the support of the
Texas Medical Association the physicians advocacy group representing over 45000 doctors across the state.
Without these new protections your most private medical records could be shared without your knowledge the same way our credit scores are bought and sold Kolkhorst said.
This is an individual liberty issue more than purely a medical one.
House lawmakers approved new measures last week that seek to protect Texans private medical information and toughen the privacy laws on personal medical records.
