Private Health Records: Privacy Implications of the Federal Government’s Health Information Technology Initiative

In 2004, President Bush called for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and implement a strategic plan to guide the nationwide implementation of Health Information Technology (HIT). The plan also called for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to leverage its power with the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) to increase the use of HIT. This hearing will review the efforts of HHS to integrate privacy into the HIT national infrastructure and OPM’s efforts to expand the use of HIT through the FEHBP and the impact such actions have on federal employees’ health information privacy.