Matthew Durham writes: The Health Legislation Amendment (eHealth) Bill 2015 was recently passed in Australia after passing through both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The new legislation expressly permits opt-out arrangements in selected regions for the implementation of an electronic health records system. If an initial trial period is deemed successful, this will…
Category: Healthcare
Genetic Testing May Be Coming to Your Office
Rachel Emma Silverman reports: Employers want workers to know what’s in their genes. A handful of firms are offering employees free or subsidized tests for genetic markers associated with metabolism, weight gain and overeating, while companies such as Visa Inc., Slack Technologies Inc., Instacart Inc. recently began offering workers subsidized tests for genetic mutations linked…
Privacy and Personal Health Information: What patient consent really looks like
Len Litchfield, M.D., writes: So you are a health professional or knowledgeable consumer and think you understand the issues surrounding privacy and exchange of personal health information? So did I, until I recently became a patient and had the temerity (or is that foolishness and patience?) to actually read the consent when I went to…
Ca: Legislation doubling fines for medical privacy breaches before Ontario legislature
Canadian Underwriter writes: A bill before the Ontario legislature proposing to require health care providers to report privacy preaches to the province’s information and privacy commissioner got some support last week by politicians from the opposition benches. “We hope this legislation actually gets through so that we can catch up to the other provinces,” Progressive…