Biden Signs Executive Order to Protect Reproductive Health Data
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on July 8 to better protect patient privacy and sensitive health-related data for those accessing reproductive health care.
The order comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a legal case that protected abortion rights in the United States for nearly five decades.
The executive order will protect people seeking reproductive health care from inaccurate information, fraudulent schemes and deceptive practices by directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Gender Policy Council to establish and lead an interagency task force on reproductive health care access.
The attorney general will also be directed to provide technical assistance to states on affording legal protection to out-of-state patients as well as providers that offer legal reproductive health care.
New guidance has also been provided to doctors and other medical providers on disclosing patients’ private information, including to law enforcement, along with a how-to guide for consumers to better protect their personal data on mobile apps.
HHS Office for Civil Rights finds that many patients are concerned that period trackers and other health information apps on smartphones may threaten their right to privacy by disclosing geolocation data, which may be used to deny care.
The guidance from HHS reminds all entities and businesses covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that providers are not required to disclose private medical information to third parties, and that they can use and disclose personal health information without an individual’s signed authorization only as expressly permitted or required by the privacy rule.
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