Comments on: A great comment on HIPAA

By: seymour fish

seymour fish — Tue, 03 May 2005 22:14:11 +0000

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

By: Public Health Press

Public Health Press — Tue, 03 May 2005 18:04:36 +0000

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.

By: Overlawyered

Overlawyered — Tue, 03 May 2005 02:11:48 +0000

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,…