[Magdalen] HIPAA Redux

[Lynn Ronkainen]

Conversation with a doc friend who mourned some aspects of HIPAA when she 
was physician for both husband and wife pairs.  Often the husband would be 
diagnosed with a VD and all she could do was tell him to tell all of his 
partners... right.

Probably a lot more upsides than downsides to HIPAA, but I do know that all 
the data they're wringing out of us now on doc visits, being typed right 
into our computer records in the exam room  most times, are becoming part of 
'the great data mine' for statistics out the wazoo...

I am particularly annoyed that the 'suggestions' from about 5 years ago in 
re women's health - the pap smear and the mammogram not being 'necessary' 
every year any more, have become 'not covered' by insurance' every year any 
more unless there are presenting reasons (any exceptions will up your 
insurance.... existing conditions or potential existing conditions do not 
mean no increase, they just mean no refusal to insure)

Lynn

website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck
 "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk 
by Richard Rohr

--------------------------------------------------
From: "ME Michaud" <michaudme at gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 5:31 PM
To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] HIPAA Redux

> Two memories of pre-HIPAA behavior:
>
> a politically active medical secretary faxing the hospital records
> of a gubernatorial candidate to a rival candidate's office
>
> a young physician requesting his wife's medical record because
> he suspected she'd had an affair before they married and wanted
> to know of she'd had an abortion
>
> And those are only two of dozens. The early period of the AIDS
> epidemic was awful.
>
> At one time I was a HIPAA trainer and I used to say "Never again
> will you begin a sentence with 'Guess who I saw in the hospital.'"
> -M