The Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008, to be introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly, creates patient privacy and data security protections for information shared through Rhode Island’s soon-to-be-launched HIE.

The bill is the product of a community-engagement process that included consumers, consumer advocate organizations, physicians and other providers, insurers, hospitals, universities, employers and state officials.

According to backers, the act creates a set of patient safeguards that go beyond existing state and federal privacy and data security protections. The legislation is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva Weed (D-Dist. 13, Jamestown, Newport) and House Representative Peter Kilmartin (D-Dist. 61, Pawtucket).