Meetings, meetings

Yesterday attended the meeting of the Working Group on Legal, Privacy and Security (WG-LPS) Issues under the Steering Committee on eHealth Record Sharing of the Food and Health Bureau (long names!!). I am the representative from HKMA. The objective of the Steering Committee is to take forward the development of a territory-wide eHR (electronic health record) sharing infrastructure. The WG-LPS mainly looks at the underlying legal issues.
Yesterday's meeting mainly concerned discussion on the draft first stage recommendations. Areas included: general principles, patients' rights over health records, copyright of patients' health records, and the legal protection for privacy, confidentiality and security of patients' health records.

Initially, opinions were that patients should not be given the choice to withhold or conceal part of their records, including past records. However, I raised the question and concern of patients' rights and choices. After discussion, the general agreement was that technical difficulties should be overcome to accomodate patients' privacy and choices.

Another issue that needed to be raised would be about whether more stringent legal protection would be needed. There had been suggestions that new law should be made and criminal liability required. The tone had been softened in the recommendations to the need to study the specific legal framework required over and above the existing legal provisions. My opinion is that no new protection is needed and certainly not new criminal liability.