Debate spurs quality groups into privacy fray
Two leading health care quality organizations have jumped into the national debate over patient confidentiality. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) held the first of two strategic meetings in early August on the relationship between the confidentiality of patient information and managed care.
The workshops will seek ways to balance protecting confidential health information with the legitimate need to access that information in a managed care environment.
Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the meeting was a gathering of experts representing government, consumer advocacy, health care research, information technology, managed care and quality measurement organizations.
"The ability to collect and use patient specific health information helps managed care organizations deliver high quality, affordable care. Because they provide a broad array of services to enrollees, managed care organizations depend on numerous data sources, often from multiple providers. However, the need for these data linkages occurs at a time when public anxiety over the protection of individual-specific information is especially acute," a joint press release says.
A second workshop is set for some time this fall; a final report with recommendations for balancing privacy with legitimate needs for data is due out by the end of the year.
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