Feds Plan For 35 Agencies To Collect, Share, Use Health Records of Americans

cold fjord writes: The Weekly Standard reports, "This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020, which details the efforts of some 35 departments and agencies of the federal government and their roles in the plan to 'advance the collection, sharing, and use of electronic health information to improve health care, individual and community health, and research.' ... Now that HHS has publicly released the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, the agency is seeking the input from the public before implementation. The plan is subject to two-month period of public comment before finalization. The comment period runs through February 6, 2015." Among the many agencies that will be sharing records besides Health and Human Services are: Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Justice and Bureau of Prison, Department of Labor, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Personnel Management, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Comments

Not to mention

[JRV31]

The NSA, CIA, and FBI.

Re:Not to mention

[cayenne8]

Well, this should pretty much close the loop on the "Big Brother" initiative that the Feds have obviously been working towards.

I wonder if there is any way to opt OUT of this. I don't see that the Federal govt needs to know or store or handle my personal medical information.

I'm happy to take my chances without them handling this, I've done quite well without it all these many years of my life so far.

uh oh

[slashmydots]

I'm so glad NASA is concerned about my health but I'm worried they may find out that I'm an alien.

enjoy!

[argStyopa]

Well, you guys wanted federal health care.

Please don't act all surprised when this information is used for all sorts of other purposes.

Re:Opt-Out Strategy

[gstoddart]

Move to another country where privacy means more than a door on a commode stall. That's about the extent of available options.

Of course, there's no guarantee the US hasn't hacked that country's computers, telecommunications, or enacted a data sharing agreement with that government.

Seriously, name me a single country which provably hasn't been hacked by the US, or directly share data with the US, and which would be your bastion of privacy.

I have my doubts such a place exists.

FUD and kneejerk reactions

[dywolf]

Before we cower in fear because ZOMG EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ME....lets consider some things:

-there has been a push for a long time to move medical records to electronic format. we've been promised cost reductions as a result, as well has better/quicker care
-most health records still paper instead of electronic. the move to electronic records has largely been a failure; one reason is the resulting cost reductions that have been promised have been slow to materialize, if theyve materialized at all.
-those that are, are not in some large nationwide or accessible database
-under federal law personal health information is private and cannot be released to outside parties without consent
-under federal law any information that is released must be anonymized; ie, no SSN or names or other personally identifiable information
-google facebook and other data miners probably already know more about your current health needs than these records would tell someone, and they already associate it with you (ie, their data isnt anonymous)

So we're not talking about the FBI or NSA using this to find out you have irritable bowel syndrome.
(chances are they already know from other sources like Facebook anyway...*tin foil hat*).
and they likely wouldnt care anyway (life is not a hollywood movie).

No, its not readily apparent why the Dept of Ag might need health data.
But health researchers absolutely. And they get anonymized health data already.
But if we considered something like antibiotic resistance and hte theory that overapplication to livestock is a factor, I could see a scenario where health researchers partner with Dept of Ag to study the effects of antibiotic usage on livestock.

In fact the anonymous nature of this data is a big factor in the outrage over the House bills just a week or two ago that purported to "ban secret science" by requiring full disclouse over everything, and banning agencies from making decisions based on "secret science or data". This would have the efect of banning hte CDC or other health agencies from making decisions based on research using this anonymous data....data that is anonymous because of privacy laws. Effectively hamstringing the agencies compeltely.

All in all, teh cowering in fear and conspiracy reactions to this are just FUD.