Protecting Privacy of Health Information and Building Trust as Mobile and Online Health Evolve

The health care system is going digital at a fast clip. In the last two years, the number of hospitals using electronic health records has more than doubled to 35%—and the majority of remaining hospitals say they have near-term plans to do so. While patient or consumer use of digital tools for health, such as patient portals and personal health records (PHRs), generally lag behind, it is catching up, especially when you also consider the use of “non-traditional” tools, such as mHealth and social media.

The proportion of American consumers using mobile phones for health has more than doubled in a single year to 26%, and social media use for health has more than tripled since 2007, reaching roughly a third of the country. As we know from numerous polls and studies, the privacy of health information stored electronically is one of the policy issues the public cares about most as health care goes digital. Laws and regulations such as HIPAA and HITECH provide some parameters for privacy guidance in this changing environment, and as health information technology evolves, additional initiatives can build on and complement those protections.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), primarily through its Office of the Chief Privacy Officer, is working to understand and provide tools for addressing privacy and security issues related to mobile and online health information through several initiatives.