Charting the Legal Environment of Health Information

Publication Date: August 2005

Publisher: RWJF and George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

Many experts agree that information about one's health care is critical to improving the quality of health care. These improvements could especially benefit patients who are more prone to receiving substandard care, such as patients from certain racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, real and perceived legal barriers could dramatically hinder efforts to use this type of health care information for improvement.

This report closely examines the legal issues that arise with the development of more and better health care information. Key findings include:

* In a number of examples, the law or widely held perceptions of the law can act as barriers to block necessary improvement efforts. For instance, if a health care system wants to address racial and ethnic gaps in health care, it might initiate an effort to identify patients by race and ethnicity. However, many hospitals and health plans believe that such efforts are illegal, or expose them to greater liability risks. These misperceptions can slow down efforts to actually improve the quality of health care that patients receive.

* The U.S. legal system provides an uncommonly complex backdrop against which enormous changes in health and information technology must necessarily unfold.

* Despite substantial research linking health information to improvements in health care quality and reduction of health care disparities, the U.S. health care industry invests an estimated 50 percent less than other sectors in the economy in information technologies.

* Common approaches should be shared among states in order to promote the development of health information.