Modern Healthcare (6/11, Conn, Subscription Publication) reports that yesterday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration conducted a “daylong ‘listening session,’” the subject of which was “whether patients of federally funded drug and alcohol abuse programs should continue to enjoy some of the most stringent privacy protections in all of US healthcare.”
Last month, SAMHSA gave written notice “that it was considering amending the rule covering drug and alcohol abuse records because some complain the rule’s more stringent privacy protections present barriers to record-sharing” which, some critics charge “impinge on the ability of new care models such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes to provide coordinated care at lower costs.”
Related Links:
— “Limits on sharing substance abuse patients’ records under debate,” Joseph Conn, Modern Healthcare, June 11, 2014. (Requires registration)