CMS: Databases Can Be Used For Disaster Planning To Aid Vulnerable Populations

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will allow health information from eight databases to be used to identify vulnerable people who might need help during an emergency.

It will allow disclosure of only the minimum data necessary to carry out public health-related emergency preparedness and response activities, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

For instance, public health data might be paired with data about power outages to identify those who rely on a consistent power supply to receive oxygen or dialysis, it says.