[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       PROTECTING PATIENT PRIVACY

  (Mr. MURPHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY. Mr. Speaker, nearly all Americans' personal health 
information remains at some risk. More than one in four health 
insurance plans and almost one in three care providers have indicated 
that they experience data security breaches of personal health 
information.
  The problem is that only 43 percent of health care providers comply 
with Federal laws that protect an unauthorized disclosure of health 
information. As the U.S. slowly expands its use of electronic health 
records, Congress needs to shift from the current complaint-driven 
approach to enforcing privacy standards to proactively defending 
patients' personal information. Every American should be able to know 
that their medical records are secure.
  My legislation, H.R. 2234, would keep electronic medical records 
safe, ensure that patients have access to their own records, and notify 
them when information is accessed by an unauthorized user, thus 
reducing risk. Ensuring health data security is important for all 
Americans to have confidence in their hospital.
  I would urge my colleagues to learn more about protecting patient 
privacy for the 21st century by visiting my Web site at 
murphy.house.gov.

                          ____________________