Trump Administration Demands Hospitals Share Emergency Room Records - KFF Health News

What the report says

KFF Health News reported that the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the small federal agency that monitors injuries tied to consumer products and oversees recalls, is pressing major hospital systems to provide detailed emergency room records with personally identifiable patient information. The records sought would cover broad categories of ER visits, not just injuries linked to products, and could include names, addresses, diagnoses and other personal details, according to documents, emails and interviews cited by KFF.

The outlet reported that the CPSC began approaching hospitals this year through Konza Health, a Kansas-based health data exchange that has a five-year CPSC contract worth up to $15.9 million. KFF said Konza representatives described participation in correspondence as mandatory or required, and that an internal memo calls for at least 100 hospitals to begin sending records by the end of 2026. After KFF asked the agency about the effort, the CPSC announced the program on July 21, while spokesperson Steve Roney described it as a modernization of the agency’s injury surveillance system.

The reported expansion has raised objections from hospital lawyers and health policy experts over privacy, legal authority and public notice requirements. KFF noted that federal law requires notice and public comment before an agency seeks information from 10 or more entities, and reported that the CPSC had not completed that process. Some hospital leaders also questioned whether sharing the data could conflict with federal privacy rules.

The program would substantially change the existing National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which relies on voluntary hospital participation and generally strips out identifying information. The issue matters because ER data can help detect dangerous products, but broader collection of identifiable medical records through a private contractor could expose sensitive patient information to new privacy and security risks.