HHS: We’ll do more to protect your health information’s privacy, speed health care investigations

Melanie Fontes Rainer, director of the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights. (Provided)

WASHINGTON — Federal officials say they’re working to cut down on a growing backlog of complaints lodged against health care providers, insurers and government agencies by patients who claim their civil rights or privacy have been violated.

Americans filed more than 51,000 complaints last year against health agencies, a number that has grown tremendously — 69% — over the past five years, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, with some complaints taking years to investigate.