More on patient privacy

As a follow-up to this post on the new IOM committee examining research impact of the HIPAA privacy regulations, here are a few additional recent items on the HIPAA Privacy Rule:


- An article in the New York Times this week examines variability and errors in how HIPAA regulations are implemented at the institutional level, "Keeping Patients’ Details Private, Even From Kin"

- The Times also included a companion article, "A Health Official Discusses Privacy," a Q&A with Susan McAndrew, deputy director for health information privacy in the Office of Civil Rights at the US Department of Health and Human Services


- Scientific American also has two more informatics-focused considerations of patient privacy: "Privacy Isn't Dead, or At Least It Shouldn't Be: A Q&A with Latanya Sweeney" and "A Little Privacy, Please," a full article discussing Sweeney's privacy-focused research at Carnegie Mellon (she has a fascinating body of work; see her site for a full listing of projects, publications, etc.)