Craig May

AHIMA Public Relations Director

312-233-1544 Office

312-404-9673 BlackBerry

craig.may@ahima.org

AHIMA RIGHTS BILL SETS IDEAL STANDARD FOR PROTECTING

CONSUMER  HEALTH INFORMATION

Health Information Bill of Rights a model for protecting the health information principles of Americans

DALLAS, October 5, 2009—With an eye toward establishing a stronger and more transparent bond between healthcare consumers and trustworthy health information, the American Health Information Management Association today announced establishment of a Health Information Bill of Rights as a model for protecting the personal health information of the nation’s more than 300 million healthcare consumers.

The Health Information (HI) Bill of Rights, seven protections supported by in-depth validations, was made necessary by “Repeated abuses of access, accuracy, privacy and security of the most basic rights of individuals whose trust has been betrayed and dignity compromised,” said AHIMA president Vera Rulon.

Wendy Mangin, AHIMA immediate past president who chaired the blue ribbon panel comprised of accredited health information management (HIM) professionals, said the protections “create a transparent shield over those areas of health information we know to be most important to consumers as well as the spaces where they are most vulnerable.”

The first two protections seek to guarantee healthcare consumers cost-free access to their health information, even during the “course of treatment.”  The third protection creates an ideal for health information that is “accurate and as complete as possible.”  

However, the fourth and fifth protections take medical identity theft head on, calling for “the right for you or your representative(s) to know who provides, accesses, and updates your health information” and “expect healthcare professionals and others... be held accountable for violations of all privacy and security laws, policies and procedures.”

“Our sixth protection deals with a national standard for health information privacy and security—especially as we advance down the road toward a national health information exchange,” Mangin said.  “Last is our protection that would establish the right to an opportunity to seek private, legal recourse in the event that a breach of one’s health information causes harm.”

AHIMA plans to keep “Bill of Rights” momentum building at least through Health Information & Technology Week (Nov. 1–7) when it will begin offering HI Bill of Rights informational products for health facilities and health professionals free of charge on the AHIMA Web site.

 Beginning HI&T Week, an HI Bill of Rights wall poster will be available for health facilities and physicians’ offices to download and display in waiting areas.  HIM and other healthcare professionals will be able to download a suitable-for-framing certificate that states their pledge to uphold the seven protections in the HI Bill of Rights.  There are also plans for a healthcare consumer wallet card with the HI Bill of Rights Preamble on one side and the seven protections on the other.   Once developed, the card will allow consumers a convenient way to keep their HI rights handy whenever they visit their doctor, hospital or clinic.

About AHIMA

Representing more than 53,000 specially educated HIM professionals in the United States and around the world, AHIMA is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices, and effective standards in health information, and actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. www.ahima.org