From: "Steve Harris" <sbharris@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Doctors and privacy
Message-ID: <YQ%v9.4438$Ik6.413589@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 01:39:04 GMT

Carey Gregory wrote in message ...

>I'm no expert on HIPPA, but I do have oversight of medical record
>keeping.  Obtaining someone's medical records from my organization
>requires a signed release from the patient or a court order.  Period.
>A federal agency seeking records would have to provide one of these as
>far as I'm concerned (and I have *never* seen a request from a
>government agency).


You haven't seem too many Medicare audits, then, I take it. They look at
charts as a random sampling, in order to make sure the doctors and hospitals
aren't billing for things they didn't do. Patients aren't asked if they
don't want their charts seem by the feds or whatever agency does the audit
and accounting process for the feds (say Price Waterhouse Cooper).

It's much the same for Jayco (JCAHO) which likely does the accreditation
(required by your state) for everything from your hospital to hospital
associated outpatient clinic to SNF, to assisted living, to whatever. Where
ever medical charts are kept. JCAHO has a thousand guys checking on 17,000
organizations, all with charts. When they do an accreditation audit, they
want to see charts. They don't tell you ahead of time, and they sure don't
tell whoever's chart they're looking at, that they ARE looking at it. All
they do is agree that any personal info they collect will be kept secret by
them, and not used for anything but accreditation purposes (they want to see
every chart with a problem list, summaries, allergy list, blah, blah.

SBH


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From: "Steve Harris" <sbharris@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com>
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Doctors and privacy
Message-ID: <hMjw9.3$7n.2542@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 00:19:25 GMT

Carey Gregory wrote in message ...
>"Steve Harris" <sbharris@ix.RETICULATEDOBJECTcom.com> wrote:
>
>>You haven't seem too many Medicare audits, then, I take it. They look at
>>charts as a random sampling, in order to make sure the doctors and hospitals
>>aren't billing for things they didn't do. Patients aren't asked if they
>>don't want their charts seem by the feds or whatever agency does the audit
>>and accounting process for the feds (say Price Waterhouse Cooper).
>
>Fine, but that's really perfectly legit and a lot different than
>saying "Let me have John Doe's records."
>
>Those paying for medical care have a right to view the records of that
>care.  If you want total privacy, get your wallet out.


There's some argument for that. Also for letting your insurance company see
stuff billed to them.

Alas, it goes deeper. The state gives Jayco the right to see your med
records even if you pay cash for your care. And many other state agencies
also.

SBH

--
I welcome email from any being clever enough to fix my address. It's open
book.  A prize to the first spambot that passes my Turing test.