HIPAA- U.S. Senators push for more patient rights

Two U.S. Senators are trying to pass a new HIPAA bill that would give patients more collaborative capabities.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), would significant changes that would effect how providers work with patient data. The new HIPAA bill would prohibit providers from disclosing health information without specific patient permission.

Why is this critical? Well, currently health plans and providers can use medical data for treatment, payment and operations without patient consent. But it can be accessed by the same parties for other reasons and the patient will never know it.
This could then be used in an unfavorable manner.

The new HIPAA bill would require patients to be notified within 15 days if a data breach occurs. This is similar to when your credit report is accessed. The HIPAA bill guarantees a patients' rights to amend, destroy or segregate information data stored by a health entity. I think putting check points in place is valuable and necessary. Isn't that what HIPAA is about-securing patient data? Yes.