HHS last week asked for public input on a recommendation from the White House report on Hurricane Katrina that calls for the acceleration of a project to create an electronic health record network, the Lakeland Ledger reports.
The report, which was released in February, includes recommendations for the government to spur ongoing efforts to promote EHRs. In addition, the report calls for an online "vault" where people can voluntarily store their private medical records, the Ledger reports.
Government officials say electronically storing data could help victims of a natural disaster or terrorist attack while also saving billions of dollars in health care costs and improving care delivery. However, privacy advocates argue that too much attention is on the rewards of EHRs rather than the risks, the Ledger reports.
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chair of the consumer protection subcommittee, is sponsoring a data security bill and said he hopes security issues become more urgent following reports that a laptop with veterans' records was stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee who took it home.
Daniel Dodgen, who is responsible for HHS' response to the White House report, said the department's request for public input was "to see what's happening in the private sector," and he added that "depending on what kind of response we get, that would make it clear what our next steps might be" (Reiss, Lakeland Ledger, 5/30). 
[ via iHealthBeat ]
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