eHealth Authority of India (NeHA)
will be established by the union
government. It will have a full time
Chairperson; a member secretary;
equivalent to the rank of Joint
Secretary to the Government of
India. Four full-time members will by
appointed by the union government.
And these will be from health
informatics, public health, law and
public policy.
Four ex-officio members, not less
than the rank of Joint Secretary will
also be there.
The NeHA or its representative shall
have the right to inspect all such
records, or access the premises,
including virtual premises of the
health information exchange or
exchanges at any time.
The draft specifically says
the rights of the owner
of digital health data: an
owner shall have the right
to privacy, confidentiality
and security of their
digital health data, which
may be collected, stored
and transmitted in such
form and manner as may
be prescribed under
this Act. An owner shall
have the right to give or
refuse consent for the
generation and collection
of digital health data by
clinical
establishments
and entities, subject to the
exceptions provided in
Section 29 of the Act.
Digital
health
data,
whether
identifiable or anonymized, shall
not be accessed, used or disclosed
to any person for a commercial
purpose and in no circumstances
be accessed, used or disclosed to
insurance companies, employers,
human resource consultants and
pharmaceutical companies, or any
other entity as may be specified by
the central government.
The draft says that the insurance
companies shall not insist on
accessing the digital health data of
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Volume 3 | Issue 3 | July-September 2018
persons who seek to purchase health
insurance policies or during the
processing of any insurance claim.
The Act is clear on the ownership
of digital health data. The digital
health data generated, collected,
stored or transmitted shall be
owned by the individual whose
health data has been digitized. A
clinical establishment or Health
Information Exchange shall hold
such digital healthcare data referred
to in sub-section (1) in trust for the
owner.
A health information exchange shall
maintain a register in such form and
manner as may be prescribed by
the central government, containing
all details of the transmission of
the digital health data between a
health data accessed within the
meaning of this section, in such form
and manner, as may be specified by
the NeHA.
A clinical establishment, health
information
exchange,
State
Electronic Health Authority and
NeHA, shall be duty bound to protect
the privacy, confidentiality, and
security of the digital health data of
the owner.
Any other entity, which has generated
and collected digital health data, shall
be duty bound to protect the privacy,
confidentiality, and security of the
digital health data of the owner.
The Central Adjudicatory Authority
shall sit at New Delhi and the State
Adjudicating
Authorities
shall
clinical establishment and health
information exchange, and between
heath information exchanges inter se. ordinarily sit at the State Capitals.
All clinical establishments and health
information exchanges shall maintain
a register in a digital form to record
the purposes and usage of digital The Central Adjudicating Authority
and State Adjudicatory Authorities
shall, for the purposes of this Act,
have the same powers as are vested
In cases, where access to digital health
data is necessary for investigation
into cognizable offences, or for
administration of justice, such access
may be granted to an investigating
authority only with the order of the
competent court.
The Adjudicating Authority shall not
be bound by the procedure laid down
by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
(5 of 1908) but shall be guided by
the principles of natural justice and,
subject to the other provisions of
this Act, the Adjudicating Authority
shall have powers to regulate its own
procedure.