A great comment on HIPAA

2 May
2005

Well, the ONE thing that DOES exist under HIPAA is the pain in my wrist, caused by the staggering number of different forms to deal with who gets the information and who gets contacted.

Simply put–Why was there not ONE STANDARD FORM to list the person(s), doctor(s), and for billing–instead of each doctor/practice/etc. having their own?

I have to help out with my mom’s paperwork at each doctor’s office and hospital visit (ER and otherwise), and each place has its own form for HIPAA permission to see the data and results–AND it has to be done every year!!

What should happen is that there should be ONE standard form for HIPAA, and it should have the following:
1–Who is your primary doctor (where applicable)
2–Who can the doctor share info with (family members, billing for insurance, primary and other doctors)
3–Where and how can I be contacted (home or work, by phone/e-mail/answering machine/etc.)
4–Messages to call the doctor back, or remind patients of appointments, should be exempt from HIPAA requirements of privacy–in other words, reminders of appointment times, or doctors needing to leave a “call-me” message, should not automatically be considered priviledged information [i.e. test results] under HIPAA if patient gives the OK
5–The permission given should be good for FIVE or more years instead of one; the patient can be asked if there are any changes or can make needed changes themselves when they visit each doctor
(this can be revoked by the patient at any time).

Congress passed this law to address substantial concerns. However, they never really considered the externalities that the law created. We have gained important privacy protections from HIPAA, but we have lost a great deal also. We have confused health care workers and patients. We have lost the ability to use our common sense in talking with family members.

More on HIPAA – Why object to HIPAA?. Just because a law stems from good intentions does not make it a good law.

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3 Responses to A great comment on HIPAA

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Overlawyered

May 2nd, 2005 at 8:11 pm

Why object to HIPAA?

Why get annoyed at the federal medical privacy law (discussed in this space Mar. 16, Feb. 5, 2004, etc.)?*Because it means your patients at the VA hospital often have no names on their doors? (MedRants,…

Avatar

Public Health Press

May 3rd, 2005 at 12:04 pm

The reason there is no universal form is because the HIPAA regulations were meant to be flexible and scalable, so that a small group practice would not be required to shoulder the same type of administrative burden to protect patient privacy as, say, a large urban teaching hospital.

It’s really an awkward marriage between the philosophies of the Clinton Administration (under which the law was passed) and the Bush Administration (under which the regulations were ultimately written). The Bush Administration didn’t like the new requirements, but were forced to put forth regulations, so they tried to make them as market friendly as possible. Therefore, you could have 6 medical practices on the same block, and each one could have contracted with a different HIPAA specialist to create their new privacy plan, and, of course each HIPAA specialist has their own set of forms.

I personally don’t mind the annual reminder being part of the process, especially since people with private insurance are asked to renew their health plans every year.

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seymour fish

May 3rd, 2005 at 4:14 pm

the HIPPA act can also be construed as allowing all governmental agencies access to patient’s most private medical information, even if the patient does not permit it. the fine print reveals some mechanisms allowing this information to be distributed to data-miners. its all there if you read it. the doctor-patient relationship is therefore a thing of the past. the american psychoanalytic society has testified before congress that they will stop keeping any records whatsoever, as a response to this violation of medicine. they recent bush push for electronic medical records, which data he promises to share with the governments of Mexico and canada, combined with the push for ‘performance-based’ physician payment (read: cheap cheap cheap = performance) will drive physicians with an ounce of compassion and self-respect out of practice. the noose is tightening. do you feel it? seymour

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