How do doctors instruct their staffs regarding patient privacy?
April 27th, 2010 | by admin |What kind of controls for privacy are put in place, besides HIPPA? Do doctors take care not to hire gossipy kind of people as receptionists?
What problems will the electronic medical records pose for privacy?
First let’s set some background. Hippokrates of Kos (460-370 BCE) wrote his famous oath: One clause of this oath reads as follows: "… [link #1]
In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.
All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal…."
"… will keep secret and will never reveal…" The oath requires absolute privacy between patient and physician.
HIPPAA is a joke in that individuals would have to spend their money to prosecute anyone —physician, clerk, et al. for releasing their data. Law suits cost money.
Police (actually any law enforcement entity) can obtain your records for any lame excuse and they are proscribed from privacy law suits. (link #2)
Police/State auditors can also data mine insurance data for data. Number of sexual partners, ownership of firearms, past use of proscribed drugs are in medical records. People could be refused adoption/ child custody (firearms existence), past drug use based on medical data.
Employers who "pay" for "health insurance" can obtain detailed statistical data on the cost of a 58 yo white male with premium ratings on body weight for said subject. So employee can be precluded from employment based on medical data (expected cost of doing business) — this is indirect but it is nevertheless effective.
Computerized system would standardize the input, level of detail, format of data — This would make it easier for insurance brokers and medical data warehouses (MIB, Boston link 3) to acquire collate and disseminate data at an individual or aggregate level. Data are outsource to foreign site to repackage "research" data a short circuit of deniability on any privacy violations.
Standardized formates of data entry, storage,and table design allows easier for "illegal" access. The government wants these data to ration health care and to control individuals.
I urge all to read bill H. R. 2630 (link #4).
I suggest that you read up on Patient Privacy Rights .org (link 5)
3 Responses to “How do doctors instruct their staffs regarding patient privacy?”
By knowitall on Apr 28, 2010 | Reply
Every staff member is instructed on HIP PA. No one can control gossip – they can fire someone for gossip, but there is no way to determine this characteristic ahead of time. Is there something you are afraid of anyone knowing about your health?
References :
By googirl77 on Apr 28, 2010 | Reply
like knowital said, there is no way to control gossip. However medical staff and pharmacists can be fired or turned into the state if they violate the HIPPA guidelines.
I think the only issue electronic records could cause is if someone hacked into a hospital or doctors office PC’s. It happens, but rarely. Place like that have pretty tight security.
References :
By greydoc6 on Apr 28, 2010 | Reply
HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – has a myriad of regulations. In my former office we had a manual that we gave to new hires, and we reviewed portions of the law at our monthly staff meetings. We were required to make certain physical modifications such as to glass in the reception area to make casual chatter in the office less audible to those in the waiting room. Patient’s name in the sign in sheet is immediately inked out for privacy, a major inconvenience at first.
The electronic medical record software is configured so that patient data cannot be fully accessed by, say, persons in the billing office. But all in all, the doctor has to insist that his staff keep patients’ medical and personal matters confidential. I don’t recall Hippocrates mentioning the subject, but there is a wonderful series of essays by Osler called Aequanimitas in which he talks about confidentiality.
References :