Consumers Could Get Lab Test Results Themselves Under New Proposed Rule

President Obama has proclaimed this the first ever national health information technology week, and under a proposed new rule being issued today by the Department of Health and Human Services, patients anywhere in the country would be able to get their clinical test results directly from the lab.

“In a lot of states, patients can only get their lab results via their provider. While that is obviously the preferred way to do it, because of breakdowns of various kinds studies indicate that something like 20 percent of lab results never get picked up by providers, and then patients literally have no recourse,” said Todd Park, the chief technology officer at HHS, in an interview with Health Affairs Blog...