Western Governors have shared feedback with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights on its "Proposed Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support, and Remove Barriers to, Coordinated Care and Individual Engagement." The Governors said the modifications, which would increase permissible disclosures of health information to improve care coordination and case management, “provide an opportunity to promote data uniformity standards and data infrastructure modernization, which would improve response to health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic." However, the outreach of March 31, 2021 signed by WGA Chair Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Vice Chair Idaho Gov. Brad Little also noted that “patient data privacy concerns must be considered in this rulemaking as well ...and we encourage HHS to consider additional rulemakings to address this issue.” Read, download the letter