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. 2020 Jun 1;27(6):963-966.
doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa039.

Balancing health privacy, health information exchange, and research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Leslie Lenert  1 , Brooke Yeager McSwain  2
Affiliations

Balancing health privacy, health information exchange, and research in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Leslie Lenert et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. .

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 infection poses serious challenges to the healthcare system that are being addressed through the creation of new unique and advanced systems of care with disjointed care processes (eg, telehealth screening, drive-through specimen collection, remote testing, telehealth management). However, our current regulations on the flows of information for clinical care and research are antiquated and often conflict at the state and federal levels. We discuss proposed changes to privacy regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act designed to let health information seamlessly and frictionlessly flow among the health entities that need to collaborate on treatment of patients and, also, allow it to flow to researchers trying to understand how to limit its impacts.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 research; HIPAA; coronavirus; health information exchange; health privacy.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Hypothetical system for screening and care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; HIE: health information exchange.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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