Electronic Release of Clinical Laboratory Results: A Review of State and Federal Policy

State and national initiatives to promote health information exchange (HIE) are gaining momentum in the wake of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which provides over $40 billion to promote health information technology.  States face particular challenges in promoting HIE for clinical laboratory results.  This paper is intended to provide policymakers with useful background on:
 
• Policy issues related to sharing lab results with providers and patients;
• The pertinent laws and how they are interpreted by various states;
• How the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996  (HIPAA) laws relate to each other; and
• Opportunities for reviewing, reinterpreting, and updating laws to fit with new electronic health information infrastructures and policies.

The California HealthCare Foundation provided generous support for the development of this paper.