South Carolina Medicaid Beneficiaries' Medical Records Now Available Electronically

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 24 Jul 2008 - 8:00 PST

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The South Carolina Health Information Exchange this month launched a no-cost Web tool that will give health care providers access to the medical histories of state Medicaid beneficiaries, the Charleston Post and Courier reports. Through SCHIEx's password-protected Web site, providers will be able to access a patient's medical history. The data, including past prescriptions and treatments, will not be housed on providers' computers but will be sent to providers by the state Department of Health and Human Services upon request. According to Jeff Stensland, director of public information for the state's Medicaid agency, although claims data are already available electronically, they were not immediately available to providers.

Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the system, but Stensland said, "We are very confident that it's secure." David Patterson, deputy chief of health and demographics at the Office of Research and Statistics, said the database is encrypted, and the records will only be decrypted when specifically requested by a provider. He added that independent researchers have conducted security checks and penetration tests on the system. Beneficiaries will have the option to opt out of the system.

SCHIEx is a collaboration of DHHS, the state ORS, the South Carolina Hospital Association, South Carolina Primary Health Care Association, Rural Health Association and the South Carolina Free Clinic Association. The tool was funded with $250,000 from DHHS (Coley, Charleston Post and Courier, 7/21).

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