As Minnesota moves forward with its interoperable EHR mandate, some clinicians are raising concerns about mental health data safety.
The Minnesota law requiring the use of interoperable EHRs for all healthcare providers went into effect Jan. 1. Although the rule carries no penalties or fines, it does mean more patient information will be digitized. St. Paul, Minn.-based clinical psychologist Peter A. Zelles, Ph.D., wrote in an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that because psychologists are now required to put patients' mental health information online, it could lead to a breach of much more personal information because of the nature of psychotherapy.
Dr. Zelles advocated that the law exclude psychotherapy medical records from the mandate and allow patients to decide what information they do and do not include in their medical records. The decision process allows patients to keep personal information on paper, where it is not vulnerable in a data breach, he wrote.
"My own patients range from the powerful and affluent to the middle class to those on Social Security, Medicare and public assistance," Dr. Zelles wrote. "All of them deserve privacy at my office. Let's pause before throwing caution to the wind and irretrievably losing access to confidential and meaningful mental health care."