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Protect the privacy of your health records!
Launched: November 30, 2009
This Action Expired: December 2, 2009
Description:
California policymakers are deciding now whether you and your family’s sensitive health-care records can be electronically shared.
Take action by Dec. 1 to protect your private health records.
The state is undertaking a massive effort to create the first electronic health database, called the health information exchange. The idea is that your health records would be stored electronically and shared among health-care providers, so if you go to the emergency room after a car accident in San Diego, for example, the doctors could easily access medical records from your doctor in Los Angeles.
But without ironclad privacy protections in place, your health records have the potential to be seriously misused. Sensitive medical information that may be non-essential in an emergency situation, such as a mild case of depression or an old case of STD, may wind up being readily available to the wrong set of eyes.
The health care industry is lobbying hard to make sure those records will be easily accessible unless you opt out. But even if you do, privacy wouldn’t be guaranteed for many people who might not even realize that their medical histories are floating around in cyberspace.
To truly protect one’s privacy, we believe you—not a lobbyist, drug company or policymaker—should decide if your medical information can be shared. That means you should have the right to opt in to the sharing agreement instead of being automatically enrolled unless you opt out. You should have the right to consent.
Make your voice heard before the rules get written without you!
The California Privacy and Security Advisory Board is now drafting the guidelines for this new electronic records system. Tell them you want control of your health. What you say now can make a difference.
Californians should not have to choose between privacy and health. Take action now!
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