In a blog post, Deven McGraw of the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) writes that the new rules adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) highlight the need for finalized adoption of the HITECH privacy rules. The new CMS rules allow Medicare recipients to opt out of sharing their claims data history with accountable care organizations while also placing limits on claims data usage. McGraw writes that the CDT is pleased with the new regulations, "But that efficiency only highlights the inexplicable year-long delay to implement final changes to the HIPAA privacy and security regulations...The failure to finalize those regulations means that privacy takes a back seat just as the administration is pushing on the accelerator for health IT adoption and health reform."
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