The Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations, 42 CFR Part 2, govern the use and disclosure of alcohol and drug abuse patient records that are maintained at federally funded substance abuse programs. Both SAMHSA and ONC want to ensure that our constituents receive every tool and resource possible to allow a more complete understanding of these Federal regulations, which were enacted in 1972 and 1975. The FAQs outline the general provisions of 42 CFR Part 2, provide guidance on its application to electronic health records, and identify methods for including substance abuse patient record information into health information exchange that is consistent with the Federal statute.

The FAQs will serve as a valuable resource to a variety of individuals, including specialty and medical providers, as well as HIE technical developers and policymakers. The FAQs are not meant to provide legal advice.

Both SAMHSA and ONC are committed to adhering to the Federal protections of 42 CFR Part 2 and recognize the importance of promoting behavioral health in electronic health records. A meeting is being planned for August 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to provide those interested an opportunity to provide input on the utility of the FAQs.

Read More About Health Privacy

An Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) is a database that contains a unique identifier for every patient in the enterprise. This would include the medical center, outpatient clinics, practice offices and rehabilitation facilities. An accurate master patient index may be considered the most important resource in a healthcare facility because it is the link tracking patients within an enterprise and across patient care settings. In clearly identifying a patient, it improves the care of the patient. If there is a clinical repository, a lifetime number that uniquely identifies one person is a tremendously valuable portion of information. Historical care related information can be obtained which is invaluable at the time of treatment, and also it can contain information from any clinic, rehab, or inpatient visit.

The Master Patient Index Dynamic Data Generator™ from ExactData can create large scale, synthetic, realistic and engineered data sets that can be used to test EMPI products utilizing sophisticated technology like Fellegi-Sunter, Soundex and Fuzzy Logic.

• Robustly Variable (because the program is a tireless bookkeeper and assure broad and thorough coverage over the data space)
• Focused and Relevant (because the cost of updating the template is low, and the cost of reproducing/creating new testing sets is low)
• Deep System Penetration (because the synthetic data holds together to a deep level of analysis)

ExactData will provide system development testing and analysis for the system designed and developed by Lockheed Martin to read handprints from millions of Census forms, processing the information quickly and effectively. It has been termed the largest, most complex data capture project in history. DTD^® technology provides programmatically-engineered test tools of unlimited size and variation. It automates the mass creation of test documents of any form or file type that simulates “real life” environments. The test documents are generated with simulated handprint data (image or paper) and are accompanied by perfectly known, expected results. Document content adheres to the client’s business rules and the generated format (“look and feel”) follows the client’s image capture guidelines.“Precise test information that can be used quickly is a real benefit for demanding development processes and accelerated timelines” said John Dawson, President, ExactData, LLC. “Manual test scripts or use of test data just takes too long and is not accurate enough for a system that is expected to perform as required for a mission-critical Census application. Our technology provides precise test information, fast and without the high costs associated with manual inspection processes.” Census data is indispensable to a variety of government and commercial pursuits. It helps determine where over $100 billion in federal funds are spent, including the placement of new schools, roads, hospitals, libraries and more. Businesses use Census figures when deciding where to build everything from factories and office buildings to restaurants and supermarkets. ExactData, LLC integrates data quality management technology for measurement and benchmarking of system performance to enable continuous improvement processes and decrease development cycle times. An output is a robust data based Return on Investment analysis that not only justifies system changes and modernizations but also the ability to factually differentiate the new solution’s performance. Operationally, ExactData enables the application of modern statistical process control techniques to document imaging and other conversion processes (dominated by 50 year old Quality Control inspection processes today), the ability to audit services operations enabling contract Service Level Agreement enforcement and technical differentiation of competitive bids. ExactData, LLC is a NWBOC Certified Women Owned Small Business. Contact: John Dawson, 585-781-4220