The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #70807

Julia Slutsman¹, Nancy E Kass, SCD¹, and Matthew K. Wynia, MD, MPH². (1) Phoebe R. Berman Bioethics Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House 352, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-3018, jslutsma@jhsph.edu, (2) Institute for Ethics, American Medical Association, 515 North State Street, Chicago, IL 60610

The handling and safeguarding of medical information has been a prominent topic of political and public debate over the past decade, culminating in the enactment of the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules. We conducted a survey of a nationally representative random sample of 2000 physicians, using a self-administered, mailed instrument. Of these, 1848 physicians were eligible for participation in the study and 846 (46%) returned completed surveys. Physicians were asked about their attitudes toward the Privacy Rule, as well as their own confidentiality practices, and were invited to evaluate the privacy practices of a health care delivery organization with which they were closely affiliated. Only 4.5% of physicians in the sample were unaware of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. A minority of physicians (20.9%) agreed that HIPAA would assist them in protecting patient privacy. The odds of believing that specific HIPAA standards would improve the protection of patient privacy were inversely related to knowledge of the regulation. In a multivariate model, the use of and effective implementation of privacy protections was associated with organizational size, the presence of an IRB, and for-profit tax status. The skepticism of physicians toward the potential effectiveness of HIPAA is cause for concern. Ultimately, compliance with the regulation and the protection of patient records will require cooperation between physicians, organizations, and patients. Health care organizations will need to devote resources toward educating physicians about HIPAA compliance efforts and creating a culture of confidentiality.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be able to:
• 1)define the purpose and of the federal health information privacy rule; 2)understand what kinds of privacy practices are effective in protecting the confidentiality of health information.

Keywords: Health Insurance Portability Act, Survey

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.