VA & SAMHSA test Exchange of Tagged Substance Abuse Data

The Veterans Affairs Department and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have demonstrated how to securely share sensitive health information while following confidentiality laws and patient disclosure wishes among providers using certified electronic health records (EHRs).

The test also showed how substance abuse and other sensitive data can be tagged so that when it is sent in a summary of care record to another provider with the patient’s permission, the receiving provider will know that they need to obtain the patient’s authorization to further disclose the sensitive information with others, according to a Sept. 17 announcement by the Health and Human Services Department. SAMHSA is an agency in HHS.