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When a women travels out-of-state to access medically necessary reproductive services including pregnancy termination, the records of her treatment can be, without her permission, shared with her in-state medical team if both institutions use the same electronic medical record system or EMR. That’s a terrible problem when she lives in a state where abortion services are illegal.

In April, 2023, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) proposed regulations that compel EMR companies to institute programming modifications so that sensitive health information such as a woman’s reproductive procedures can be shielded from automatic sharing without her permission beginning in January, 2026. These protections for reproductive health information are supported by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Health Law Program, and the Center for Reproductive Rights as well as by more than 13 health care organizations and individual physicians.

Problem is that this proposed regulation is opposed by EPIC, the maker of the most frequently used EMR as well as by United Healthcare.

Here’s what you need to do. If you are a woman seeking reproductive services out of state, be certain that your out of state medical records are not shared with any other institution or medical team. You have the right under HIPAA law to shield your medical records under threat of a lawsuit against anyone or any institution that violates your privacy.

For all of us, let’s contact our congressional senators and representatives urging them to support the proposed ONC reproductive privacy rights. Then get busy using social media, your phone, and email to contact United HealthCare and EPIC to lambast them for opposing a woman’s right to reproductive privacy. In America, its the squeaky wheel that gets action!

https://www.statnews.com/2023/12/07/electronic-health-records-abortion-patient-privacy/

#womenshealth #reproductiveservices #abortion #emr #sharing #Epic #UnitedHealthcare #ONC

Protections Needed For Sensitive Reproductive Information

Dr. Howard Smith Reports