Private Health Information Legal Protections in Emergency Medical Services

Recent communications between counsel for an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) provider in New Jersey and the state Department of Health (DOH), Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) claimed that the DOH was providing illicit access to private health information (PHI) based within the providers electronic patient care report (ePCR).  While the response from the DOH indicated that the information sharing was completed in accordance with all state and federal laws, the concerns raised by the law firm are not novel concerns.  EMS systems are often trusted by their patients to protect their PHI that is obtained as a necessity in the course of their lifesaving operations.  The collection and use of data from EMS systems nationwide is crucial to the improvement of operations, provider safety, and patient care, however there is the competing interest of protecting the privacy of patients and respecting their Constitutionally protected rights.  There are important legal and policy perspectives that should guide the prospect of personally identifiable EMS data sharing to law enforcement.