Social Security Administration Launches E-Health Info Exchange

Lucas123 writes "In what could be the start of a national health information exchange system, the Social Security Administration became the first federal agency to go live with a public-private electronic health records information exchange that will cut wait time for 2.6 million Americans who apply for benefits each year by weeks or months. The electronic exchange runs on a database operated by a non-profit organization in Virginia and open-source software deployed at the Social Security Administration. 'The goal of the NHIN effort is to enable secure access to health care data and real-time information sharing among physicians, patients, hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies and federal agencies ... regardless of location or the applications that are being used.'"

Do not want

[Bob the Super Hamste]

The thing that worries me is the amount of information sharing, it seems that this is just ripe for abuse, data theft, data loss, and misinformation. I would love it if just my doctor had access to my medical records instead of everyone and their brother.

Re:Do not want

[jasmusic]

Yeah we would all love it but things never quite seem to work out that way. This shit ought never to have been created at the federal level.

Sounds good to me

[Improv]

I realise that a lot of geeks care a lot more about their privacy than I do, and this might be bad news for them, but personally I would love not to have those endless forms to fill out every time I see a new doctor, and it would be very handy if I had access to all my medical records through a web browser.

The difference between having this and not having this is akin to investments/banks that provide web interfaces and those that don't - I have one credit union account that's not on the web and it's kind of irritating that I have to physically show up (or wait for a statement) to check the balance on it. All the rest are conveniently available to me whenever I want to bother logging in.

Re:Do not want

[TubeSteak]

it seems that this is just ripe for abuse, data theft, data loss, and misinformation.

Doctors and Hospitals don't exactly have the most secure networks,
which effectively guarantees that botnets will have access to their L:P's.

In other words, if it is accessible over the internet, just assume that it is public.

Re:Do not want

[GigsVT]

There are other ways to accomplish that without a big centralized database that everyone has access to.

The insurance companies are going to love this.

Re:Do not want

[Shrike82]

Provided sufficiently strong security is used then I don't see how this is any different from online banking or credit card purchases through online stores, except all that's being stored here is medical information. I do take your point that data duplicated online is exposed to greater risk, but someone breaking into the system and seeing that dates of my vaccinations and that embarrasing STD is still a better prospect for me than having my online banking details stolen.

Re:Sounds good to me

[uberdilligaff]

The problem is that you only see the benefits. Others point out the prospect for insecure systems and operators being breached, and your information getting loose -- that's a concern. But I worry much more about the the absolutely certain demand that will come from the insurance companies to get wholesale access to all patient data from any physician who 'participates' with the insurer. The financial incentives will make it impossible for doctors to refuse. The result will be major increases in insurance companies' ability to identify and correlate all sorts of pre-existing conditions, and selectively deny coverage on a scale that has never been seen before. Be careful what you wish for....

Re:Do not want

[Improv]

States would probably do a worse job of it, and we'd probably end up with 50 systems that don't talk to each other (well, actually, more likely 14 done, 5 that never finished implementation, 20 stalled in legislature, ...).

It's most useful if it's seamless across the nation so if for some reason I'm injured in another state my information will be available with no fuss.

Re:Just another insecure system based upon SSNs

[oneirophrenos]

A question from someone with limited knowledge of the American health system - how much information do your insurance companies get? I mean, they must have access to critical medical info if they are to pay for procedures, drugs and such.

Competition between governments

[qbzzt]

Don't you think western civilization is general would be stronger if we tried multiple approaches in parallel and saw which worked best?

Paying higher taxes for more government service is good, people can move from the US to Europe or Canada. If you prefer to pay less taxes and get less, you can move from Europe or Canada to the US.

Re:Competition between governments

[daem0n1x]

But the US-like health system is widely available in most 3rd World countries, so there is no lack of alternatives.

Get a 1st World health care system. Those that don't like it can move to Sudan or Chad and be happy.

Re:Sounds good to me

[keithjr]

You raise valid points regarding the problems of giving the insurance industry too much data to play with. However, I'm reluctant to start restricting our ability to share possibly life-saving data, in an efficient fashion, out of fear of our broken health insurance system.

Value of Data

[TimeTraveler1884]

It can be argued that personal medical information is potentially more important than you life savings. Just a few weeks ago some company in the UK [slashdot.org] was selling confidential data on worker's to building firms that illegally vetted new hires.

There are probably many unscrupulous companies out there that would vet new hires based on health factors such as mental health history, insurance risks (for companies with private insurance), or simply the fact that the STD you have may indicate you are more likely to sexually harass coworkers.

Someone having your online banking account information can only steal the money you have at that time. Someone having your medial information can steal your ability to make money.

Re:Do not want

[JCSoRocks]

Then those 99% of people can suffer the consequences. It's no different than asking you if you're on any new meds when you go in to see the doctor. If you say "no" and then they prescribe you something that mixes horribly with what you're on, it's your own fault for not saying anything.

The potential for abuse is far too high here. I'm sure that not all medical staff are happy with their current pay. Why not supplement it with some nice data grabbing? This also creates one very big target for attack. The more people's data you have in one place the more likely it is that someone's going to try and get it.

The GPs mention of the potential for abuse by insurance companies is right on. Look at credit - how easy is it to fix your credit score if it's been all jacked up? It's not. I can't wait for "health scores" that are similarly disastrous. That'll be all kinds of fun. :-/

Re:Pill Heads

[ptbarnett]

Baby boomers have got to be the biggest pack of whiny, self-indulgent motherfuckers that ever lived on this planet. Even though they are all getting old now, they still act like a bunch of goddamn teenagers. The sooner they die off, the better America will be.

A correction: "Social Security" is OASDI, a "trust fund" of government debt that will start to be drawn down in 2017 and exhausted by 2041, at least according to the last projections by the Social Security Trustees [socialsecurity.gov].

"Prescriptions for endless psychological disorders and sports injuries" are covered by Medicare: a separately funded program. It in even worse shape -- the "trust fund" is expected to be exhausted by 2017 [hhs.gov].

Some of us baby boomers have been pointing out the problems with both programs for the last 30 years, and have been effectively told by previous generations to STFU. But at this point, Social Security alone has collected about $500,000 from me (assuming a modest rate of return).

I didn't plan to depend on Social Security benefits. But, my expectation is that I will need them just to pay the increased income taxes that will be required to fund the current administration's spending spree. So, I will offer you the same advice given to me when I was in your position: STFU.

Re:Do not want

[glueball]

I understand the "if there's an emergency" argument but a country-wide health care information system would not solve that issue effectively.

There are very few (very, very few) true health emergencies where a physician spending time reading notes will be more helpful than hands on treatment. I am defining an emergency as "you'll be dead in 10 minutes."

Per your example: Allergy attack? There is a standard treatment. Allergy attack after life-saving procedure? There is a protocol.

MI/arrhythmia? There is a protocol. Would it be nice to know if there was a relevant history? It might. But the first line treatment to stabilize will not likely change.

Stroke? There is a protocol.

Overdose? There is a protocol.

If you have multiple stab wounds to the head, your history doesn't matter. And if you have multiple stab wounds to the head, they won't make you fill out forms.

I always thought forms were put in place to make sure you really wanted to be there. I mean, if you can't be bothered to fill out your name and check 10 boxes, should someone else be bothered to pick up a tab for the visit?

Re:True purpose

[Anonymous Coward]

I love how everyone acts like people just regularly died in the streets before there was social security. Long before there was social security there were friends, families, churches, community groups, clubs, etc. People supported each other. Now we've just turned that support into a poorly handled tax program that wastes as much as it hands out.

The entire process of determining need is a perfect example of this waste. When you've known someone for 10 years or you live next door to them it's pretty easy to determine whether they really need money for help.

Re:Do not want

[Cro Magnon]

But if they really want to do the job right, they'll shoot you AND change your blood type in case you live long enough to get a transfusion.