Worcester Medicine Publishes “Data Privacy Doctrine in Motion?”

October 7, 2019

The Worcester District Medical Society published an article by Peter Martin in the September/October 2019 edition of its quarterly publication, Worcester Medicine. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Health information privacy law at its core involves a balancing between individuals’ privacy interests and countervailing interests such as the need for personal health information for treatment, research, public health and other purposes. Current state and federal law effects this balancing by providing exceptions to the general rule that an individual’s health information is confidential and must not be used or disclosed unless in pursuit of specified legitimate interests. A recent Massachusetts Supreme Court decision in the distinct but related context of public records law contains rulings that may have a significant impact on how this balancing is to take place with respect to health records.

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