The group announced the new guidelines during its annual meeting in Chicago (HealthDay News/Modern Medicine, 6/16).

Security Breaches

The new AMA policy offers guidance for health care providers in the event that someone gains unauthorized access to a patient’s medical record. The guidelines call for physicians to:

* Inform patients of the security breach;

* Follow ethically appropriate disclosure procedures;

* Place the patient’s interests above those of the physician and medical institution; and

* Provide guidance to help patients avoid adverse consequences from the breach (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 6/17).

EHR Subsidies

In addition, the committee adopted a policy urging the federal government to adjust EHR subsidies to account for inflation.

Members also drafted a resolution discouraging government programs from implementing funding structures that impose penalties on health care providers who have not adopted electronic prescribing systems.

Open-Source Systems

AMA delegates also called for the organization to support policies that increase the availability and affordability of open-source EHR systems (Modern Healthcare, 6/17).

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http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2009/6/17/AMA-Adopts-Policies-on-EHR-Subsidies-Security-OpenSource-Systems.aspx