WASHINGTON – The economic stimulus bill passed Feb. 13 included some advances in healthcare IT patient privacy that got mixed reviews from privacy activists.

The new law includes a ban on the sale of medical records, provides patients with the right to an audit trail of where their data goes, and notification of record breaches.

Ashley Katz, executive director of Patient Privacy Rights, called the measures an historic win for patients, but warned laws are imperfect. "More must be done to restore nd trengthen our 
right to informed consent. A number of the vital protections we won will be fleshed out through the regulatory process," she said.

Twila Brase, president the Citizens' Council on Health Care, is concerned about measures in the new law that allow the federal government to collect patient data for research and public health.

"The doctor's office could soon be viewed as a national data collection center, not a clinic of confidential care," Brase said.