NEGaTiVE iMpaCT aCROSS THE RESEaRCH ENTERpRiSE

Academic Health Centers (AAHC) reveal that the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has serious and often detrimental effects on biomedical research. It is known that the U.S. is a global leader in biomedical discovery and that research conducted at academic health centers has led to new lifesaving discoveries and treatments for disease and chronic illness. What is often not recognized beyond the research community is the negative impact—often unintended—of the myriad regulations and mandates such as HIPAA. Ultimately, societal interests are at stake when unintended barriers hamper research processes and progress. The AAHC learned from focus groups around the U.S. that one regulation in particular, HIPAA, continues to hamper a wide array of health research activities, and corrective action is needed in order to advance biomedical research and science in the U.S.