Patients could gain right to find out who’s seen their health records
By Julian Pecquet - 05/31/11 02:03 PM ET
Patients would be able to find out who has looked at their electronic medical records under a proposed rule opened up for public comment on Tuesday.
Patients would obtain the information by requesting an access report, which would document who electronically accessed and viewed their protected health information. Although providers are currently required to track access to such information, they don’t have to tell patients.
“This proposed rule represents an important step in our continued efforts to promote accountability across the health care system, ensuring that providers properly safeguard private health information,” said Georgina Verdugo, director of the Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights. “We need to protect peoples’ rights so that they know how their health information has been used or disclosed.”
TIDBITS
In the Pacific Islands, natives pickle their foods in holes
in the ground lined with banana leaves, and use them as food reserves in case of storms. The pickles are so valuable that they’ve become part of the courting process, helping a man prove he’ll be able to provide for a woman.
Napoleon was also a big fan of pickle power. In fact, he put up the equivalent of $250,000 as a prize to whoever could figure out the best way to pickle and preserve foods for his troops.
During the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, H. J. Heinz used pickle-shaped pins to lure customers to his out of the way booth. By the end of the fair, he’d given out lots of free food, and over 1,000,000 pickle pins.