One of the things that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) covers is who your medical information can be shared with. The HIPAA regulations permit your doctor, hospital or other clinician to send your medical information to specific state and federal public health databases. This information is included in the Notice of Privacy Practices that your doctor or other healthcare provider gives you when you receive care and/or services.
The information that your doctor sends to public health databases both within your state and to federal databases is protected by very good privacy and security requirements.
Public Health Information
Public health is defined as the prevention of disease and the promotion of health through the organized efforts of states and federal agencies, such as the lead paint registry in your state, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. It is concerned with threats to the overall health of the population. Environmental, social, behavioral and occupational health areas and initiatives are also part of public health work.
The primary goal of public health is to improve lives through the prevention and treatment of disease.
There are 2 distinct characteristics of public health:
- It deals with preventive rather than curative aspects of health; and
- It deals with population-level, rather than individual-level health issues.
The focus of public health intervention is to prevent rather than treatment of a disease through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Plus, encouraging treating a disease may be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak of an infectious disease such as the flu. Hand washing, and vaccination programs are examples of public health measures.
Types of Public Health Databases
Currently, there are a number of types of public health databases that cover a large variety of medical topics. Each key area has specific information that is maintained within it. Key areas are:
- Vital statistics;
- Newborn screening;
- Hearing screening;
- Lead paint screening;
- Immunizations; and
- Infection diseases.
It is important to remember that these databases are used for preventive and predictive measures and you want your doctor to report this information to your state and/or federal agencies. This is critically important with regards to infectious disease. For example, you would like your local newspapers and the evening news to tell you about where ticks are found in the summer that are carrying Lyme disease so you can check your children, family pet, and yourself in the evening if you have been out walking or playing in such an area.
Vital statistics includes births and deaths. When you sign your child's birth certificate it is entered into your state's vital statistics database.
Newborn screening happens at birth in many states now. This is screening for metabolic diseases that need care and therapy from birth. This information is sent to a child's pediatrician to plan and implement any and all care necessary to prevent learning disabilities, academic failure and neurological defects.
Hearing screening happens at birth and often in schools. If a child shows auditory problems at birth s/he is then tested periodically before s/he enters school. This is very important for a child's success in school and with family and their friends.
Lead paint screening is done only when a child shows specific symptoms of lead paint poisoning. Lead paint symptoms include sluggishness, headaches, tremors and seizures. It is critical that this testing take place before a child is 7 years of age.
The immunization database holds all the immunizations a child receives in the first two years of life, including flu shots, and the booster shot your 10 year old got after stepping on a rusty nail.
A most important public health database is one that holds the news of infectious diseases. This is very important currently with the outbreak of the new type of flu virus that began in Mexico in April 2009.
Remember, all of the information that your doctor sends to public health databases within your state and to federal databases is protected by very good privacy and security requirements.