Nebraska lawmakers launched a state Health Information Technology (HIT) Board to gather health data on residents.
While the board claims the initiative is to help healthcare providers “make the most informed decisions about the health data that they help govern,” critics have voiced concerns that the program is a move toward digital ID.
The Nebraska legislature voted unanimously in 2020 to create the board.
According to the HIT Board’s website, the program seeks to “Provide the governance oversight necessary to ensure that any health information in the statewide health information exchange and the prescription drug monitoring program may be accessed, used, or disclosed only in accordance with the privacy and security protections set forth in HIPAA” and “Establish criteria for data collection and disbursement by the statewide health information exchange and the prescription drug monitoring program to improve the quality of information provided to clinicians,” among other goals.
The state law leading to the development of the HIT Board calls for CyncHealth to centralize the data.
“Patient care is complicated enough without trying to do it in a vacuum. When providers aren’t able to communicate, mistakes happen, costs rise, and patients suffer,” CyncHealth’s website says. “That’s why we’re breaking down barriers to deliver the right information at the point of care—every time. It’s more than sharing data between providers—CyncHealth empowers care teams to work together for better health outcomes, lower costs, and thriving communities.”
CyncHealth is a member of the CARIN Alliance, according to The Defender.
The CARIN Alliance seeks to develop digital ID.
Independent journalist James Roguski said the healthcare system may violate Nebraska’s state constitution.
In researching the state’s constitution, he could not find “any authority granted to the state government to control health, healthcare or health-related data.”
“It seems that they are acting outside their constitutional authority when they enacted LB 1183 (Population Health Information Act),” he told The Defender.
