OASIS under fire over privacy issues; no changes expected
OASIS under fire over privacy issues; no changes expected
By MATTHEW HAY
HHBR Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Reports surfaced last week that even strong supporters of the Health Care Financing Administration’s (HCFA; Baltimore) Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) are disturbed by questions the data collection tool is asking of home care recipients. But don’t expect any significant changes soon.
"Sometime this year Congress is supposed to pass privacy legislation and you might see a major effort to include mental health privacy and other measures," a top aide told HHBR. "But that is not where Bill Thomas is at and that is not where the majority is," the aide added, referring to House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA). "They want to make it easier to exchange data, so I think it is a long-shot that things change."
As lead stories in The Washington Post and other newspapers reported, the OASIS data set will ask millions of patients questions about their mental stability, financial status, and living arrangements in order to determine if home health agencies are providing appropriate treatment to Medicare beneficiaries, and to ensure that reimbursement for these services is consistent. Data transmission will begin next month.
Meanwhile, HCFA defended the OASIS data set, claiming that it will be extremely limited in accordance with privacy regulations. HCFA spokesman Chris Peacock said medical researchers will not be allowed to see any patient identifiable information, and other government agencies will not be permitted to access the database. But those arguments are not likely to assuage concerns of civil libertarians, health care providers, and consumer groups.
Home care providers also wanted to limit the collection of data to Medicare beneficiaries. But HCFA maintained that data was required about patients who are not Medicare beneficiaries as well in order to gather requisite data to ensure consistent services for both patient populations.
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